Hamas' Hanieyh: Hamas Will "Never Recognize Israel"

(INN) Gaza de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who is running as a candidate to replace Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal in the group's upcoming elections, says the terrorist group will “never recognize Israel.” Haniyeh arrived Friday in Tehran on an official visit as part of his tour of the Middle East.

Having abandoned his longtime office in Damascus as the 11-month uprising in that country rapidly escalates into a full-scale civil war, Haniyeh has been on a regionwide search to find a new home for the terrorist organization's political bureau. At last report, it appeared that Qatar has agreed to host the group's politburo headquarters.

Speaking to a crowd from the podium of Azadi Square in Tehran on Saturday, Haniyeh announced, “They want us to recognize the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinian people and in the name of all the world's freedom seekers... we will never recognize Israel.”

Haniyeh, whose remarks were made to commemorate Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, added, "The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including al-Quds (Jerusalem) has been liberated and all the refugees have returned.”

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