Hamas parades 2,000 armed fighters, drones and vehicle-mounted rockets in biggest show of strength since the end of summer war with Israel

Hamas parades 2,000 armed fighters, drones and vehicle-mounted rockets in biggest show of strength since the end of summer war with Israel, Hamas paraded more than 2,000 of its armed fighters, drones and truck-mounted rockets through Gaza today to mark its 27th anniversary in the biggest show of force since the end of the Gaza war this summer.

A ceasefire in August halted 50 days of fighting with Israel in which local health officials said more than 2,100 Palestinians, mainly civilians, were killed - while Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians.
And at the parade, a senior Hamas leader reaffirmed the Islamist movement's founding charter's pledge to destroy Israel.

Referring to the movement's armed wing, Khalil al-Hayya, said: 'This illusion called Israel will be removed. It will be removed at the hands of the Qassam Brigades.'

In recent years, some Hamas leaders have said they would accept a Palestinian state on land Israel occupied in a 1967 war in return for a long-term truce, but would continue to refuse to recognise its enemy's right to exist.

Abu Ubaida, the brigades' spokesman, added another confrontation with Israel might be inevitable unless the tens of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed in the Gaza Strip in last summer's conflict are rebuilt soon.
Wearing a mask, he said: ''We will accept no less than the rebuilding of everything that was destroyed by the savage Zionist aggression.'

Palestinians have voiced disappointment over the slow pace of reconstruction and a limited flow of building material into Gaza since international donors pledged more than $5 billion in October.

A drone with Hamas markings was on one flatbed truck, and another unmanned aircraft, identified by the group as one of its own, flew overhead, as did an Israeli fighter jet.

During the war, Hamas's long-range rockets disrupted daily life in Israel's major cities. Most were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Addressing a crowd of several thousand in the rain, Abaida praised Iran for supplying Hamas with money and weapons.
Relations with Tehran have been strained by Hamas's hostility toward Iran's closest regional ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Both groups signed a unity deal in April but are divided over how to administer the Gaza Strip.