Masses attend funereal of Hamas interior minister

Thousands of people attended the Friday funeral of Hamas' interior minister Said Siam, who was killed in an Israeli air raid on Gaza City Thursday.

Siam's Hamas peers, however, were conspicuously absent from the service, as the organization's senior operatives are all in hiding. No gunmen were present either.

The masses called for vengeance on Israel, as all of the Palestinian groups have sworn since the Israeli offensive in Gaza began. Hamas television has been broadcasting photos of Siam since the morning hours, accompanied by various war songs. 

The funeral (Photo: Reuters)

Siam, 50, was a high-profile figure in Gaza. A former head of Hamas special executive forces, he won the highest number of votes in the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council; and was considered by many as the man who ended the Gaza anarchy by de facto ending the armed militias' frenzy, so common in the Strip until that time.

The defense establishment said Siam's brother Ayad and the head of Hamas' security organization in Gaza, Salah Abu Sharah, were also killed in the strike.

Siam was the most prominent Hamas figure targeted in Operation Cast Lead so far, and the most senior persona to be hit since the assassination of Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, in 2004.

Mohammed Nazzal, a member of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus said Thursday that "despite Israel's desire to annihilate Hamas' leadership, the factions will continue to defend Gaza Strip."

Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades have threatened retaliation for Siam's death.