Deif: `“Israel leaves Gaza humiliated`

Mohammad Deif, a prominent Hamas activist, also believed to be a master bomb-maker wanted by Israeli security forces for the last decade, appeared on a video tape Saturday saying that Israel is leaving Gaza “humiliated by the continuous strikes of the resistance.”

Deif added that the resistance should not hand over its arms, but instead should keep the “weapons of resistance side by side with the political work” and urged the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to choose dialogue in order to resolve their differences.

Deif has topped the Israeli most-wanted list for more than 15 years.  Israeli security believes that Deif led several attacks against Israel and planned suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis in the nineties.

He survived three assassination attempts, the latest of which was carried out in 2002.  He lost one of his eyes in the attack carried out by an Israeli apache.

Deif appeared in a video, which was published by the Associated Press, like a shadow, calmly talking while waving his hands, and spoke about the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance “which expelled the occupation from the Gaza Strip.”

“Gaza’s liberation came as a result of the armed struggle and the steadfastness of our people,” Deif added.

“We will not hesitate in resuming our resistance,” Deif said. “We will not stop or rest before liberating our Holy Land”.