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Hamas leader says Israel perpetrating 'holocaust'

In an unusually fiery attack -- even by Hamas standards -- the exiled leader of the militant group denounced Israeli attacks against civilians in the Gaza strip on Saturday, describing them as "the real holocaust."

More than 80 Gazans, at least half of them civilians, have died in pitched battles between Israeli troops and Palestinian rocket squads that began on Wednesday and escalated sharply on Saturday.

"I accuse Israel of implementing a real holocaust against the Palestinian people for the past 60 years. What is happening today in Gaza is a new holocaust," Khaled Mashaal told reporters in Damascus, where he lives in exile.

Throughout Saturday, 50 Gazans were killed. West Bank leaders have threatened to suspend peace talks to protest the Israeli attacks, which came as Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with dozens of rockets and mortars.

Mashaal accused Israel and those supporting it of "exaggerating the story of the Holocaust ... and using it to blackmail the world."

While Hamas has often likened Israeli troops to "Nazis," this appears to be one of the first times it has used the word "holocaust."

He also lashed out at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, accusing him of "providing cover for the Israeli holocaust" in Gaza by criticizing Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel and claiming that Hamas militants were sheltering al-Qaeda terrorists.

He also blamed some European countries, without naming them, for keeping silent on Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians.

"It is shameful that some Western countries try to clear their conscience with regards to the Holocaust that took place on their own land by being silent on the real holocaust being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people," he said.

Mashaal's multiple references to the Holocaust appeared to be a reaction to a statement on Friday by Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai who told Israeli Army Radio that the Palestinians would be "bringing upon themselves a greater shoah because we will use all our strength in every way we deem appropriate, whether in airstrikes or on the ground."

The Hebrew word shoah most often refers to the Holocaust, but Israelis use it to describe all sorts of disasters.

The Hamas leader called on Arabs and Muslims worldwide to "go back to the streets in the East and West ... to tell the world that `we will not stay silent in the face of this holocaust.'"

Following Mashaal's news conference, some 3,000 Palestinians at the Yarmouk refugee camp marched with Palestinian flags to protest the Gaza attacks.

"Death to America, Death to Israel!" they shouted.

Meanwhile in Jordan, some 500 angry demonstrators gathered in the al-Wihdat refugee camp on Saturday on the outskirts of Amman to protest the Israeli strikes in Gaza. The protesters shouted slogans against Israel and burned the Israeli flag.

In a telephone call with Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II condemned the "Israeli massacres," according to the official Petra news agency and described them as "violating all the international conventions."

In Lebanon, thousands gathered at the Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camp to protest the Gaza attacks and in Egypt, which along with Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel, a Foreign Ministry statement condemned the Israeli military actions.

"It is regretful that Israel carries out these operations without calculating the consequences on the adopted peace efforts," the statement said.

A statement issued by Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mahdi Akef condemned the Israeli military actions.

"I will quote the Israeli defense minister as describing it as a holocaust," it said.

The Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group also described the attacks as a holocaust taking place "with blatant Arab complacency and Western weapons and financing and comprehensive American protection of the Israeli butcher."

Syria also condemned the attacks and said the international community should break its silence by "deterring Israel from committing these massacres."

The Arab Gulf states, for their part, denounced the "savage Israeli aggressions" in Gaza and urged the international community to "take its responsibilities and take the necessary measures to protect the Palestinian people."
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