HAMAS TO CREATE ARMY

'Hamas ready to form Palestinian army' (YNet)

Hamas is ready to merge armed factions including its military wing to form an army to defend the Palestinian people, a senior Hamas leader said on Saturday.  "We are willing to form an army like every country... an army to defend our people against aggression," Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal told a news conference in Damascus following the group's sweeping victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections.  Mashaal said his group wanted a partnership with other Palestinian factions and called for the world to respect organization's landslide victory in parliamentary elections.  In the press conference, Mashaal outlined three goals: Reform of the Palestinian authority, sustaining its resistance to Israel and "arranging the Palestinian home."  The Hamas chief also obliquely refused to disarm.  "As long as we are under occupation then resistance is our right," he said.  Mashaal indicated attacks on Israeli civilians would continue as long as Israel continued to target Palestinian civilians.  "Resistance is a legitimate right that we will practice and protect. Our presence in the legislature will strengthen the resistance," Mashaal said. "If people raised the issue of targeting civilians, we said and we say that when our enemy stops targeting civilians we will abide by that."