Hamas leader ends long exile, visits Gaza Strip

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal ended decades of exile from Palestinian land on Friday with a triumphal first ever visit to the Gaza Strip that underscored the Islamist group’s growing confidence following its latest conflict with Israel.After passing through the Egyptian border crossing, Meshaal knelt and touched the ground with his forehead, offering up a prayer of thanks. He was then greeted in the warm December sun by dozens of officials from an array of competing factions.Meshaal will spend barely 48 hours in the coastal enclave and attend a mass rally on Saturday that has been billed as both a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas and a “victory” celebration following the November fighting.Israel rejects Hamas’s assertion that it won the conflict, which killed some 170 Palestinians and six Israelis.Speaking to reporters, Meshaal said his arrival in Gaza was like a rebirth that followed on from his natural birth in the nearby West Bank in 1956 and a second that was his narrow escape from an Israeli assassination squad in 1997.“I pray to God that my fourth birth will come the day we liberate Palestine,” he said, clearly moved by his reception, with uniformed police breaking ranks to try and kiss his hand.