Hamas warns of Intifada

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas threatened to launch a new uprising against Israel on Saturday when hundreds of thousands of Islamist supporters rallied in Gaza City to mark the group's 20th anniversary.

"Our people are capable of launching a third and a fourth intifada until the dawn of victory rises up," said Khaled Meshaal, the group's exiled leader, in a speech recorded on Friday at his base in Damascus.

The central square in Gaza City was awash with green flags and dozens of armed, masked men from the group's military wing patrolled in a crowd estimated at between 300,000 and 500,000.

Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said the movement was growing more popular because of its stance against the United States and Israel.

"Today is the day of Jihad, resistance and uprising," Haniyeh said.

"Those who remain committed to the constant rights of their people, those who make an enemy of America and the Zionist occupation (Israel) gain popularity. This is Hamas."

Founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was killed by Israel in a 2004 air strike, the group has a charter that calls for the elimination of the Jewish state.

Tensions are high between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction which the Islamist group routed from Gaza in a civil war in June.