Exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal marked the militant group’s 25th anniversary Saturday at a Gaza rally celebrating "victory" over Israel. Meshaal stepped onto Palestinian land for the first time in 45 years when he arrived on Friday.

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Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal led a rally in Gaza on Saturday to celebrate "victory" over Israel as more than 100,000 Palestinians marked the militant group’s 25th anniversary. Meshaal arrived for his first visit to the Palestinian Territories in 45 years on Friday, saying he hoped he would one day die a "martyr" in the Palestinian territory.

After his seven-vehicle convoy swept across the border from Egypt, Meshaal got out and kissed Palestinian soil before embracing Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniya, a member of Hamas.

Green Hamas flags and the red, white, green and black of the Palestinian flag were everywhere to mark the unprecented visit which was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Islamist movement.

“Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of the Islamist party ruling in Gaza, will probably be seeking to reestablish his leadership. People have a tendency to forget that he is the party’s number one man, whereas his Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh gets the limelight a lot more than he does”, said FRANCE 24 correspondent Gallagher Fenwick.

Meshaal was accompanied by his deputy Mussa Abu Marzuk and other top officials on a trip which came just two weeks after the end of a deadly confrontation with Israel, which began on November 14 with an Israeli air strike that killed Hamas military commmander Ahmed Jaabari.

Shortly after his arrival, Meshaal was taken to see the charred remains of Jaabari's car, which had been transported to Rafah especially for the visit.

"I hope God will make me a martyr on the land of Palestine in Gaza," he said.

Homecoming is ‘third birth’

Security was tight across the territory with masked militants from Hamas military wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades out in force, wearing fatigues and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, as they patrolled the roads along which Meshaal's convoy was to travel.

"This is the first time that I am coming to Palestine in 37 years," said Meshaal who is originally from a village in the West Bank but went into exile with his family after the 1967 Middle East war, only returning for a brief visit in 1975.

It was his first-ever visit to Gaza.

"This is my third birth," he told reporters at a brief press conference, saying his second was after he escaped an Israeli attempt to kill him in Jordan in 1997.

Izzat al-Rishq, another senior member of the Islamist movement's exiled politbureau, said it was a moving experience to finally be in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

"This is the greatest feeling I've ever had. It is an unforgettable historic moment," he told news agency AFP. "Our wish to kiss the soil of Palestine has come true."

Mahmud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, said the visit was replete with symbolism.

"No matter how long a Palestinian is away from his homeland, he will always return after a victory," Zahar told AFP.

Shortly afterwards, the convoy set off for Gaza City, travelling along streets decked with Hamas flags and the red flags of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which on December 11 marks its 45th anniversary.

In Gaza City, the delegation was to pay a visit to the home of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in 2004.

Hamas celebrates its anniversary

Hamas marks its official anniversary on December 14, but celebrations are to begin on Saturday with a major rally at which Meshaal is expected to speak.

During his four-day visit, Meshaal will meet members of different Palestinian factions as well as the bereaved and the wounded from last month's conflict, Hamas officials said.

His trip comes just two weeks after after an Egyptian-brokered truce ended eight days of bloodshed which left 174 Palestinians dead, more than 100 of them civilians, as well as six Israelis – four civilians and two soldiers.

“It’s truly going to put the ceasefire agreement to the test, which specifically mentions that Israel stops targeted assassinations in Gaza. Remember that Khaled Meshaal is the number one man of a party, Hamas, whose charter specifically calls for the destruction of Israel, so he’s probably pretty high on Israel’s hit-list,” reported Fenwick.

Islamic Jihad's leader Ramadan Shallah had also been expected to attend the celebrations, but was expected to cancel the visit after Israel objected.

"The Egyptians told Ramadan Shallah that they (Israel) would end the ceasefire if he came to Gaza," a Jihad source told AFP on Thursday, saying Shallah would "most likely cancel the visit".

Israel said the visit proved there was no blockade on Gaza.

"This visit by Meshaal, which follows that of the Qatari emir and the Egyptian prime minister and other officials proves there is no Israeli blockade on Gaza," said foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, referring to a measure put in place by Israel in 2006, but eased in recent years.

Founded in 1987 shortly after the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Hamas was inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Its charter calls for the eventual destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state on the pre-1948 borders of the British Palestine Mandate.

In 2006, Hamas won a landslide general election victory, routing the long-dominant Fatah party of president Mahmud Abbas. Some 18 months later, Hamas ousted Fatah forces from Gaza after several weeks of running street battles.

(FRANCE 24 with wires)

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