Hamas followers in southern Lebanon gathered Saturday to hail the Islamist group's parliamentary win in the Palestinian legislative elections, looking to it to pave the way for millions of refugees to return to their homeland.
"This victory will allow us to work for the return of some four million Palestinian refugees dispersed around the world to come back to their homeland," said Ali Barakeh, Hamas spokesman in southern Lebanon.
The camp of Rashidiyeh east of the southern port city of Tyre was full of green Hamas flags and pictures of late Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantissi, killed by Israeli air strikes in 2004.
Despite heavy rain, Hamas followers were out on the streets celebrating their party's victory. Flag-covered convoys toured, with supporters chanting Moslem hymns and praising the "armed resistance" of the group.
The mainstream Fatah movement won just 43 seats in Wednesday's elections compared to the 76 of Hamas.
"Hamas's victory is a beam of light on the path to our return to Palestine," read one banner inside the camp. Hamas's supporters in the Rashidiyeh camp continued for the third day to distribute sweets to anyone entering their camp.
Around 367,000 Palestinian refugees are living in 12 camps across Lebanon.
The Beirut government has ruled out settling Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, because most are Sunni Moslems, and this might destabilize the country's already fragile confessional system. dpa wh sc
