Hamas welcomes UN vote on Palestinian status upgrade

Islamic Hamas movement welcomed early Friday the UN voting thatgranted Palestine the status of a nonmember state. "The UN vote is a profit to our people, though Palestine deserves more than that," said Ezzat Al-Resheq, a member of Hamas' politburo, based outside the Palestinian territories. The vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions, took place in New York, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appealed for a state on the lands Israel occupied in 1967. Hamas' charter calls for the destruction of Israel, but its leaders recently signaled support for the Palestinian bid at the United Nations based on not recognizing Israel or dropping the Palestinian people's right in resistance. The result of the voting "should be put in its normal context as part of a national strategic vision based on resistance," Al- Resheq wrote on his Facebook, as Hamas officials in Gaza declined to answer phone calls. "The soil of Palestine, from the sea ( Mediterranean) to the river (Jordan River) mustn't be given up."