GAZA, Aug 27: A Hamas leader who tops Israel’s most wanted list said on Saturday the Jewish state had been humiliated by its Gaza pullout and warned Palestinian officials against stopping what he called armed resistance by militants.

Mohammed Deif, who survived an Israeli air strike on his car two years ago and who has been in hiding for more than a decade, delivered the message through Hamas’s office in a video tape and written statement to reporters in Gaza.

The footage gave no indication of his whereabouts.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, said in an interview earlier this week he hoped to persuade armed groups to choose dialogue with Israel instead of confrontation.

In his message, Deif told Israel: “You have occupied our land. Now you are leaving Gaza humiliated.”

Then in what he described as a call to the Palestinian Authority, Deif said: “We should keep the arms of resistance raised side by side with the political work and we warn against harming this weapon that liberated Gaza.

“Let it continue to be active and operational to liberate the rest of our homeland.”—Reuters