Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal kissed the ground and wept as he arrived in Gaza on Friday on a historic first visit to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Islamist organisation and what it claims was a victory in the recent war with Israel.
"I have been dreaming of this historic moment my entire life, to come to Gaza," said the exiled leader, who last stood on Palestinian soil as a teenager. He paid tribute to the "blood of [Gaza's] heroes".
He told reporters it was another rebirth following a failed attempt by Israel to assassinate him in 1997. He prayed that his next rebirth would come "the day we liberate Palestine".
After entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt, Meshaal visited the homes of Hamas's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was killed by Israel in 2004, and Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari, whose assassination by Israel last month triggered the eight-day war.
Hundreds of people turned out to greet him amid the heavy presence of Hamas security guards.
He is expected to address a huge rally in Gaza City on Saturday. Hamas has also invited Fatah officials to take part in the rally in a further sign that the two factions may be moving closer to reconciliation. Fatah leader Yahya Rabah said the organisation would celebrate "with our brothers in Hamas", the Ma'an news agency reported.
However, the leader of Islamic Jihad, another militant organisation with a strong presence in Gaza, reportedly cancelled a trip to the area following warnings that Israel might try to assassinate him.
Egyptian authorities, who are mediating in post-ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, told Islamic Jihad's secretary general, Ramadan Shalah, that he risked being targeted by an Israeli air strike if he crossed from Egypt to Gaza for the celebrations, according to Ma'an.
Meshaal was also expected to visit the home of the Dalou family, 10 of whose members were killed in an air strike during the conflict.
An investigation into the deaths of the Dalou family by Human Rights Watch found that the air strike was "a clear violation of the laws of war". Describing the incident as "the largest number of civilians killed in a single attack during the Gaza fighting" last month, Human Rights Watch said Mohammed al-Dalou, who was killed in the strike, was a low-ranking civilian police officer. An Israeli military spokeswoman described him as "a known terror operative".
Human Rights Watch's report said: "Even if Mohammed al-Dalou were a legitimate military target, an attack on his crowded home would be unlikely to meet the requirement of proportionality. Under the laws of war, the expected military gain from an attack must outweigh the anticipated civilian harm."
Fred Abrahams, of Human Rights Watch, said: "The Israeli claim that the attack on the Dalou home was justified is unsupported by the facts. The onus is on Israel to explain why it bombed a home full of civilians, killing 12 people."
Meshaal, who is expected to spend around 48 hours in Gaza, survived an attempt on his life in 1997, when Mossad agents tried to poison him in Amman during Binyamin Netanyahu's first term as Israeli prime minister.
In January this year, Meshaal left his headquarters in Damascus after refusing to back the Syrian regime against the armed uprising. He now operates from Cairo and Doha.
