GiselaClaire

By GiselaClaire

Celebrations

There are big celebrations planned for tomorrow to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas. Hamas is an acronym of ?arakat al-Muq?wamah al-?Isl?miyyah, which means Islamic Resistance Movement.

In an historic event, Khaled Meshaal, the chief of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, arrived today on his first ever visit to the Gaza Strip. He kissed the soil on his arrival.

There was quite a commotion outside my window a few hours ago, with car horns blaring and ambulance sirens sounding. Just after I took this photo, a car came past carrying Prime Minister Haniyeh and Meshaal.

They were accompanied by open trucks filled with members of Al Qassam Brigades, wearing fatigues and balaclavas, and carrying rifles and bazookas. Some men ran alongside the fleet of cars.

(I put my camera away at this point.)

There will be an open-air rally tomorrow to celebrate Hamas' success in the last war and commemorate the party's anniversary. Significantly, Hamas invited their rival party, Fatah, to share in the celebrations and they agreed. This bodes well for reconciliation efforts.

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