In response to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s appeal that Hamas disarm after Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip:

“To the brothers of the Palestinian Authority, the liberation of Gaza has been realised thanks to the sincere actions of the Mujahidin, and as a consequence our weapons will stay in our hands… We warn all those who try to touch the weapons of those who liberated Gaza: These arms must be used to free our occupied motherland.”“Hamas leader resurfaces in video,” Al Jazeera, August 27, 2005, http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2005/08/200849143714942785.html.