Gaza celebrates Mubarak resignation

Thousands of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have taken to the streets, celebrating Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation.

Gazans congratulated the Egyptian people on achieving this goal, describing it as the victory of the will of the Egyptian people and their sacrifices.

"We consider the resignation of President Mubarak to be the start of the victory of the Egyptian revolution which we support with all its demands," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP shortly after the Egyptian leader stepped down and handed control to the army.

On Friday, after 18 days of massive anti-Mubarak protests across Egypt, the Egyptian leader finally stepped down and handed power to the military after 30 years in power.

Hamas, the democratically-elected government of Gaza, has called on the new Egyptian leadership to "immediately" open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt and end the coastal sliver's three-and-a-half-year blockade.

Rafah is the only access point connecting the besieged Gaza Strip to the outside world.

For nearly four years, Egypt helped Israel to impose a deadly siege on the Palestinian territory, keeping Gaza's 1.5 million population trapped in the tiny strip.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 following days of secret negotiations at Camp David, in the United States. Many Egyptians, however, believe that the treaty did not end Israeli occupation and opposed it.

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