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Waving green flags and banners, crowds of Palestinian men, women and children filled a large square for the event.

Analysts say turnout is seen as a vital test of support for Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June from its Fatah rivals.

In a defiant website statement, Hamas's leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, vowed the group would not renounce violence. Khaled Mashaal also said that there will be no concession with the Israeli relations.

Speaking from Damascus, Syria, he said Palestinians were capable of mounting the third and the fourth new uprisings against Israeli occupation, like the intifadas of 1987 and 2000.

Even if the Hamas government was elected after a democratical election, the westerns and America objected the Hamas government and forced it to quit ruling. In the west, Hamas is named as a terrorist and militant group, whereas among many people in different parts of the world it is known as a heroic, struggling Islamic group trying to cope with the unjustice and blood sheding policies of Israel.