GAZA
Khaled Mashal, the Hamas political bureau chairman said that "today marked the starting point for the liberation of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, and victory (for Palestinians)."
Mashal's comments came as he visited the home of the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yasin in Gaza along with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday.
Mashal will attend the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of Hamas' foundation on Saturday.
Born in Ramallah in 1956, Mashal and his family migrated to Kuwait in 1967 after Israel occupied West Bank. Mashal left Kuwait in 1991 and moved in Jordan. He survived a Mossad assassination in 1997. He later stayed in Syria and Qatar.
Hamas was created in 1987 after the beginning of the first intifada - or Palestinian uprising - against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
