Arabs and Muslims must join forces to defend themselves against the US and Israel and support the Palestinians in their worsening conflict with the Jewish state, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said late Monday.
Mashaal, who is the political chief of the Palestinian militant organization, described America and Israel as "the leading dangers" confronting Arabs and Muslims around the world.
The Syrian-based Hamas leader made his comments to about 500 people at a rally after a condolence ceremony at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, outside Damascus, held for Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the Hamas leader in Gaza assassinated by Israel on Saturday.
"Arabs and Muslims have to join together in order to stand against the arrogance of the Zionists and the Americans," Mashaal said, adding that "Hamas will reply to the killing of Dr. Rantisi." He did not say how.
Mashaal's comments come amid Arab anger at Rantisi's killing plus the Bush administration's endorsement last week of a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the Palestinian West Bank in exchange for US concessions on keeping Israeli settlement on other Palestinian-claimed land.
US President George W. Bush also embraced Israeli rejection of any "right of return" for Palestinian refugees after a White House meeting with Sharon.
"The Arab governments have to stop the Zionist-American plan to control the Arab world," Mashaal said.
"The Palestinians have done their duties and offered martyrs in Palestine and now the Arabs have to unite with the Palestinians,"
In an interview on Sunday, Mashaal blamed Washington for Rantisi's death, saying the Bush administration's endorsement of Israel's proposal to hold onto West Bank Jewish settlements encouraged Sharon to give the go-ahead for the Hamas leader's killing.
Rantisi was killed less than a month after becoming Hamas' chief in Gaza following Israel's assassination of the militant group's previous leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Mashaal, who Israeli officials have also targeted for assassination, said Hamas has appointed a replacement for Rantisi in Gaza, but has not released his identity, apparently for security reasons.
Mashaal's outspoken speeches have become more regular since Yassin's and Rantisi's deaths, marking a shift in the apparent Syrian crackdown on Damascus-based Palestinian groups after the US last year began urging Syria to curb the influence of anti-Israeli groups operating on its soil.
In December, Bush signed legislation calling for sanctions to be imposed against Syria if it maintains its purported support of militant groups and terrorists involved in the insurgency in Iraq.
The Bush administration is still assessing how to administer the legislation.
Syria has said that it has closed Palestinian militants' offices in Damascus and insists the militant groups are not terrorists but fighters resisting Israeli occupation of their homeland. It also says it is trying to prevent fighters from crossing its border into Iraq and denies it is pursuing weapons of mass destruction.
The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing. In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
‘EAST SHIELD’: State-run Belma said it would produce up to 6 million mines to lay along Poland’s 800km eastern border, and sell excess to nations bordering Russia and Belarus Poland has decided to start producing anti-personnel mines for the first time since the Cold War, and plans to deploy them along its eastern border and might export them to Ukraine, the deputy defense minister said. Joining a broader regional shift that has seen almost all European countries bordering Russia, with the exception of Norway, announce plans to quit the global treaty banning such weapons, Poland wants to use anti-personnel mines to beef up its borders with Belarus and Russia. “We are interested in large quantities as soon as possible,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Pawel Zalewski said. The mines would be part
RSS