Hamas to hold weapon exhibition

Al Qassam Brigades, armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced on Thursday that it will hold a three-day exhibition of all the weapons it produced and used against Israel in a five-year armed uprising.

The group said in a leaflet that the exhibition will open on Saturday in the former Jewish settlement of Nitzarim, south of Gaza City.

"The exhibition will show all kinds of guns, homemade rockets and roadside bombs that were used by Hamas militants to get Israeli occupation forces out of our territories," said the leaflet.

Hamas' decision to hold the exhibition came one day after 13 major Palestinian factions including Hamas promised to halt all armed rallies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank at the behest of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

On Tuesday, the quartet committee, which groups key Mideast mediators of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, called on Abbas to dismantle militant groups.

Hamas, sworn to destruct Israel, has spearheaded mortar attacks on Israeli targets over the past five years.

Source: Xinhua