Hamas paraded more than 2,000 of its armed fighters, drones and truck-mounted rockets through Gaza today to mark its 27th anniversary in the biggest show of force since the end of the Gaza war this summer.
A ceasefire in August halted 50 days of fighting with Israel in which local health officials said more than 2,100 Palestinians, mainly civilians, were killed – while Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians.
And at the parade, a senior Hamas leader reaffirmed the Islamist movement’s founding charter’s pledge to destroy Israel.
A drone with Hamas markings was on one flatbed truck, and another unmanned aircraft, identified by the group as one of its own, flew overhead, as did an Israeli fighter jet.
During the war, Hamas’s long-range rockets disrupted daily life in Israel’s major cities. Most were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Addressing a crowd of several thousand in the rain, Abaida praised Iran for supplying Hamas with money and weapons.
Relations with Tehran have been strained by Hamas’s hostility toward Iran’s closest regional ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Both groups signed a unity deal in April but are divided over how to administer the Gaza Strip.
Source: Daily Mail