On this day in 2005, the Israeli occupation withdrew its armed forces and illegal settlers from the Gaza Strip with their tails between their legs.

Gaza has conveyed a message to the world that the Palestinian people had managed to break the will of  the Israeli army that once described itself as ‘unbreakable’.

The 2000 Second Intifada and the sacrifices made by Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem were the main cause behind the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. On this day, the Gaza Strip was purged of illegal settlements and Israeli occupation forces.

The short-sighted Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin wished that he “could wake up one day and find that Gaza has sunk into the sea.” But Rabin was assassinated and Gaza stayed. The terrorist Ariel Sharon said that “the fate of Tel Aviv is the fate of Netzarim.” However, Sharon was pushed out of Netzarim just as how his successors would one day be forced out of Tel Aviv as long as there are loyal and faithful resistance movements committed to defending their people and liberating their lands.  

On this anniversary, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas states the following:

1. The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza came as a result of the Palestinian people’s resistance against Israeli occupation.
2. The Israeli occupation’s attempts to force Gaza to capitulate through its siege are bound to fail and its bids to impose rules of engagement on it has ended as its residents would remain committed to embracing the option of resistance until fully liberating all of historic Palestine.  
3. The Israeli occupation tried to reoccupy the Gaza Strip in three fierce military offensive and undermine the steadfastness of its residents, who, in return, managed to foil this goal.
4. After 15 years of replacing the occupation with siege, we confirm that this policy has failed, as the Palestinian resistance is improving its capabilities every day. We are determined to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip with no political price in return and without any preconditions.
5. Gaza was and will remain part of the Palestinian homeland. No one should mistakenly think that Gaza’s resistance factions and people can be neutralised in the Palestinian freedom struggle, as they are working day and night on releasing Palestinian detainees and restoring the right of return for Palestinian refugees.  

Finally, Hamas salutes the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip who are on the path of liberation and freedom.

We hail the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories, as well as Palestinian refugees in the diaspora for staying committed to their rights and constants.

We will remain committed to full liberation all of historic Palestine.