DAMASCUS (AFP) — Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal accused Israel of "using the Holocaust" as a pretext for launching attacks on the Gaza Strip, where 42 Palestinians were killed in a major assault on Saturday.
Meshaal also accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a political rival of Hamas and with Israel has been negotiating, of providing the Jewish state with "a cover, voluntarily or involuntarily", to carry out its assault on Gaza.
"Israel is exaggerating the Holocaust... Israel is using the Holocaust as a cover to do what it wants," Meshaal told a news conference in the Syrian capital, where he lives in exile.
Meshaal condemned Israel's air and overland raids on Hamas-run Gaza that have killed dozens of people since Wednesday as "a real holocaust."
"Israel is targeting all the armed groups, Not just one faction. It is an open war," Meshaal said, vowing to pursue the armed confrontation against the Jewish state.
"If the world cannot end the occupation... then it is our right to defend ourselves," he said. "When the battle is imposed on us, the only thing left is resistance."
He also warned Israel that "if you decide to occupy Gaza, 1.5 million people will fight you with faith and determination", referring to the entire Palestinian population of the impoverished territory.
An angry Meshaal also criticised the international community for failing to stop the Israeli attacks. "Those who keep quiet on Israeli crimes are partners in these crimes," he said.
The Islamist group has been in control of Gaza since last June, when it expelled the Fatah faction loyal to Abbas from the territory.
Israeli attacks on northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 38 Palestinians, medics said, making it the deadliest day of fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory in more than a year.
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