amas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who on Wednesday made his first public appearance since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, declared "victory" over Israel.
Haniyeh told a pro-Hamas rally outside the offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza City that the war showed that the "resistance has become much more developed than the past."
He said that Hamas was this time prepared for the battle with Israel. "We managed to crush the myth of the enemy army that can't be defeated," he said. "The Palestinian people did not celebrate Eid al-Fitr, but today they are celebrating the holiday of victory."
Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, held a press conference together with representatives of other Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip where he too declared "victory."
He said that the "resistance won because it was able to strike at the heart" of Israel. "We told the enemy: You are not safe on any piece of our land."
Abu Obaida boasted that Hamas and the other armed groups managed to drive tens of thousands of Israelis out of their homes during the war.
"Gaza has exposed the Zionist entity and its security and military leadership," he continued. "We have exposed them as murderers who target innocent civilians after failing to face our fighters."