Gazans mark the 54th anniversary of the Khan Younis massacre

GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas held on Friday evening a memorial to mark the 54th anniversary of the Khan Younis massacre in which IOF invading troops killed 1200 Palestinians from the city and refugee camp of Khan Younis.

The massacre took place on 3 November 1956 the invading IOF troops rounded up residents of Khan Younis and its refugee camp and shot them on the streets and in their homes under the pretext that there was resistance to the invasion. UN agencies put the figure at 275 civilians killed 140 were refugees who were uprooted from their homes eight years earlier and 135 were local residents of Khan Younis. But Palestinians put the figure at 1200 civilians and twice that number of Egyptian soldiers who tried to stop the aggression.

Dr. Zahhar, member of Hamas's political bureau, said during a speech at the event that Hamas will never be a dagger in the side of the Arab and Muslim nation and that the Palestinian people whose blood mixed with the blood of Egyptian and Syrian soldiers in the fight against the occupation will certainly achieve victory in their struggle for liberation and freedom.

He also called on Fatah to stop the farce of so called peace talks with the Israeli occupation and concentrate instead on reconciliation with Hamas and national unity to face occupation and liberate the Aqsa Mosque and all holy places.

For his part MP Yahya al-Ababsa said that resistance was the only way to end the occupation and achieve complete liberation.