"Bethlehem - Ma'an - Hamas leader Khalid Mash'al has warned against underestimating the power of Hamas in the West Bank, saying "Hamas was never weak, but has been patient for a year and a half, amongst all the coup attempts. Whoever thinks that Hamas is weak in the West Bank is wrong."
In an interview with the Cairo-based Al Ahram newspaper and the Abu Dhabi Al Khaleej newspaper, Mash'al denied that he had been informed by Fatah's Hani Al Hassan about preparations for a coup against Hamas, "We have our own intelligence body which knows what is going on, on the ground."
The two papers published the interview simultaneously on Saturday, reporting Mash'al stating that his movement "only has normal cars, not military cars", but, "our young men have been in open war against the Israeli enemy since years, and that it is natural to now have the necessary military experience." He added that the takeover of military posts and government departments was completed in a strategic manner. "Hamas members held great knowledge of the targeted posts, they have also used new technologies in their operations. They are all well trained people and are ready for military operations." He added that Hamas had been forced to occupy the strip, "it was like a patient who is forced to take the medicine."
Both papers revealed that Mash'al had declared that Hamas "did not choose to fight," but "were forced to defend ourselves against this corrupt group."......"Since a year and half, Hamas has not been given the chance to practice its rights as the victor in the PLC elections. We were oppressed by the security bodies, and the situation escalated until nothing was secure or safe - even the mosques and the Imams of these mosques were threatened. The [Fatah-affiliated] security [services] did everything they could against the movement. Hamas did not act impatiently, but we were pressured until we had no other choice, but to defend ourselves. "......
The Hamas leader-in-exile was asked about the termination of the trend toward US General Dayton's plan in the Gaza Strip, and the allegation that "there is now a more extreme current against Hamas in the West Bank, to which he replied: "This [pro-US] trend is dangerous, not only for the Palestinians in the [Gaza] Strip, but also dangerous for the Palestinians in the West Bank… On the whole, they [supporters of Gen. Dayton] are dealing with the USA and Israelis and receiving orders from them."......
Hamas announced that they had seized documents from the security departments, to which Mash'al clarified, "we have a lot of them, and they are now being classified. When we finish, we will present them to the Arab countries, so that they can know the size of the crimes committed, and who it was who used to work against the interests of both the people and the Arab countries. We will hand each country the documents related to it, so they can protect their countries and their national interests. Some of the documents will also be presented to the media."......
Asked if Hamas are planning on performing the same acts in the West Bank as in Gaza, Mash'al defiantly concluded, "This is a wrong question. We never intended to control the strip, it happened through the defence of its integrity. What is going on in the West Bank is saddening. Our policy is not to clash with anyone, but we warn of underestimating Hamas' power in the West Bank.""
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