Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:31:45 GMT
 Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal |
"With patience victory will be ours in a few hours …. We are now nearing the final stages," said Mashaal.
He said that "unprecedented" resistance has prevented Israel from achieving its goal of advancing deep into Gaza, adding that Israel is trying to cover up its failure by inflicting as many civilian casualties as possible in the final moments of the battle.
"They kill the families of resistance fighters so as to force them to surrender," he continued.
Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive against Gaza on Dec. 27, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 4,700 others have been injured.
Tel Aviv says only 12 soldiers have been killed in the military operations it launched against the densely-populated strip to end Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel. Hamas rocket fire has killed three settlers.
"This is not a battle against Hamas as the enemy would like to portray. It is against all the forces and factions of the resistance in Palestine and against our nation," said Mashaal.
The Hamas chief said that before engaging in talks, Israel would have to end its military campaign in Gaza and pull out its troops, lift the 18-month siege it imposed on the strip and open the Rafah crossing.
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