Haniyeh urges Mubarak to stop building fence

Hamas' prime minister in the Gaza Strip appealed to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday evening, calling on him to halt the construction of an underground separation fence on the Sinai border, which Hamas recently referred to as "a disaster to the Palestinian people."

In a speech marking the first anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, Ismail Haniyeh turned to "the air force hero" (Mubarak was the commander of the Egyptian Air Force during the Yom Kippur War) and told him, "We are not threatening Egypt's security, we are not interfering in Egypt's matters, and we were forced to use the tunnels as an exceptional default option due to the situation we were pushed into."

He added, "I call on you to open the Rafah crossing as well. You have a national and religious responsibility."

'Tunnels a default option.' Haniyeh speaking, Sunday evening (Photo: Reuters)

The Hamas prime minister added that the Palestinians would continue to insist on their principles, and presented his stand in favor of an overall Palestinian reconciliation, despite the ongoing conflict with the Fatah faction and the Palestinian Authority controlling the West Bank.

"Hamas believes in pluralism and in the political partnership, as well as in a democratic transfer of the regime."

'Masses vowed to sacrifice themselves'

The remarks were made on the backdrop of ongoing tensions between Hamas and Egypt, mainly due to the organization's refusal to sign Cairo's formula for a reconciliation agreement. Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman said about two weeks ago, "We don't work for Hamas and not for (Hamas politburo chief Khaled) Mashaal."

Haniyeh called on the world to implement the Goldstone Report, which accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in Gaza. He asked the international community and the United Nations secretary to work to prosecute "the Israeli war criminals."

Senior Hamas member Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya said that the organization's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, "have managed to thwart all of the occupation's plots and plans."

Al-Hayya, who spoke to thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza, said that Hamas and the resistance organizations would not be defeated.

"How will we be defeated when the rally marking Hamas' establishment pointed to the support of hundreds of thousands who arrived, and the masses swore to sacrifice themselves for Islam and for the Palestinian issue? I call on everyone to continue supporting the resistance and promise that Gaza will not fall during the war and in the Strip, and those who will fall will be the Americans and the Israelis."