Thousands rally in support of Hamas government

Jabaliya Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip:  Thousands of Palestinians rallied in the Gaza Strip yesterday behind their Hamas-led government, severely squeezed by a Western boycott and a fiscal crisis.

Gathered in the Jabaliya refugee camp on the northern outskirts of Gaza City, the protesters shouted "down with the siege" and "we may die of hunger but we will never give in," holding the green flags of the Islamist movement.

In Gaza City, hundreds of other supporters gathered in the main downtown square, where Hamas leaders collected donations for the group.

Palestinian Prime Minister Esmail Haniya yesterday vowed not to disband a new Hamas-led security force and said he was prepared to increase its size in defiance of President Mahmoud Abbas.

"We do not intend to make one step backward. The force will stay and will be integrated into the police force. Their task is to protect internal security and if there will be a need to increase its number, we will do it," Haniya told worshippers at a mosque in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Israel will buy badly needed drugs and medical equipment for hospitals in the Gaza Strip out of funds it is withholding from tax and customs receipts collected for the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the New York Times yesterday.

"We will pay if necessary out of our own pockets," said Olmert, interviewed in occupied Jerusalem ahead of a three-day visit to the United States that begins tomorrow.

He vowed to get the supplies directly to the hospitals "as soon as possible," circumventing the Hamas government.

Olmert however dismissed reports of a Palestinian humanitarian crisis.