A senior Hamas leader denied on Wednesday that his movement is trying to form an alternative Palestinian leadership besides the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to rule the Jewish settlements after they are evacuated.

"All that we have presented was a form of understanding aimed at keeping and protecting this great achievement of the Palestinian resistance," said Mohamed Ghazal, a Hamas leader in the West Bank.

He added that it is also the right of Hamas movement to defend what it has achieved during resistance.

The intended Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and northern West Bank is a triumph of the Palestinian national resistance, Ghazal asserted, adding the Israelis are escaping from the Palestinian armed resistance and their attacks.

"Every Palestinian, no matter what he is and who he is, has paid a high price and suffered a lot, so all the Palestinians have the right to share this achievement," he continued.

Source: Xinhua