Militants embrace publicity war over Gaza

Hamas came out of hiding today, holding a mass news conference for the first time in a decade.

The militant group also distributed the phone numbers of 34 multilingual spokesmen as a battle for control of the Gaza Strip gained steam ahead of Israel’s withdrawal next week.

Media campaigns have become the latest weapons of choice in the struggle between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority – both of whom claim responsibility for Israel’s evacuation of 21 Gaza Strip settlements and four West Bank enclaves.

For the first time since Israel began targeting Hamas’ top leadership two years ago, the Islamic group surfaced, handing out phone numbers of spokesmen fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, determined to beat Hamas in the war for the airwaves, tonight inaugurated a special Gaza withdrawal media centre, complete with live feed points for TV crews, a 24-hour SMS service for news updates, maps and free hats and T-shirts.

“The centre will facilitate the media in all they need. It is ready to meet all your demands. A group of Cabinet ministers and officials will be ready at all times to answer your questions,” Abbas assured the journalists gathered at the media centre.

Earlier in the day, founders and top Hamas political leaders gathered on the same stage for the first time in a decade, vowing to go on fighting Israel and claiming victory for the impending withdrawal.

On Thursday, Hamas for the first time invited TV cameras to film a night-time training session, complete with militants rappelling off high-rise walls and jumping through flaming hoops.

Islamic Jihad also released Saturday training footage of militants dressed in camouflage with masked faces crawling through tunnels and under mesh-wiring while coming under live fire.

Hamas has hired the spokesmen “to take on the huge responsibility of educating the world about the importance of the withdrawal,” said Mushir Masri, one of the militant group’s army of spokesmen.

“The media presence is in high demand especially since the enemy has been defeated and there is no longer a security concern preventing them from appearing in public,” Masri explained.

The Hamas leadership went underground two years ago when Israel began targeting the group’s founders and top brass, including spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, both killed in missile strikes.

But recently Hamas has been openly challenging the Palestinian Authority, and even made a strong showing in West Bank and Gaza municipal elections.

On Saturday, the Hamas leadership said at its news conference that Abbas’ Fatah movement could not be the sole decision-making body and insisted it has the right to possess arms.

“Hamas remains committed to the choice of resistance as a strategic choice. Hamas remains committed to its military wing and its right to possess weapons,” said Ismail Haniyye, a top Hamas leader.

Hamas does not plan to battle the Palestinian Authority, but “rejects the idea of allowing any single party to monopolise the decision-making process,” Haniyye added.

The Hamas news conference came just a day after Abbas attended the first official Palestinian Authority celebration of Israel’s upcoming withdrawal, promising his people the Gaza pullout was the first step to an independence.