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Netanyahu and Hamas leader both vow no compromise

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal's vow to take Israel 'inch-by-inch' justifies Israel's renewed pledge to settle the West Bank, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday.

's vow to vanquish  after claiming "victory" in last month's  conflict vindicates 's reluctance to relinquish more land to the Palestinians, Prime Minister  said on Sunday.

, the leader of the Islamist  movement, made a defiant speech before thousands of supporters in the  Strip on Saturday, promising to take "inch-by-inch" all of modern-day , which he said he would never recognise.

"Over the last day, we have again been exposed to the true face of our enemies. They have no intention of compromising with us. They want to destroy our country," Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting.

The Israeli leader has faced fierce foreign criticism this week for announcing a wave of Jewish settlement building in the occupied  and East  following a de-facto recognition by the U.N. General Assembly of a Palestinian state.

But Netanyahu said  would never withdraw unilaterally from the  as it had done from  in 2005, arguing that this would risk creating another territory from which Palestinians could launch rockets at Israeli cities.

"I am always aghast at the delusions of others who are prepared to pursue this process and call it peace," he said.

"We want a true peace with our neighbours, but we will not close our eyes nor bury our heads in the sand," he said, adding that this required  to "stand up to international pressure".

´¡±ô³Ù³ó´Ç³Ü²µ³óÌý refuses to recognise  or renounce violence, the Western-backed Palestinian President has said he is ready to make peace on the basis of the lines that existed before the 1967 war, when  seized the West Bank, East  and the .

Direct talks broke down in 2010 over the issue of settlement building and Abbas, who holds sway in the , has since called for reconciliation with , which ousted his own forces from  in a 2007 civil war.

's 1988 founding charter calls for the destruction of  and for recovering all mandate Palestine, although  leaders have said in recent years the movement could live peacefully alongside  if it wins a state on all land occupied in 1967. Various  officials have at times indicated a willingness to negotiate a ceasefire, possibly decades long, with .

"What is interesting is that , of all people, did not condemn the () words calling for's destruction, just as previously he did not condemn the rockets fired at Ìý(´Ú°ù´Ç³¾Ìý)," Netanyahu said.

"And to my regret he is working for unity with this same , which is supported by Iran."

 is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its foundation this week, turning the event into a "victory" party following its eight-day conflict with  last month in which some 170 Palestinians and six Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed.

 not only killed the group's military mastermind during the fighting, but also says it destroyed long-range Gazan rocket arsenals and secured a ceasefire that put an end to indiscriminate attacks from the coastal enclave.

As a first-time premier in 1997, Netanyahu sent  assassins to kill Meshaal, then a mid-level  figure, in  in reprisal for a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. They botched the mission, and the ensuing recrimination from Ìý´Ú´Ç°ù³¦±ð»åÌý to free the jailed spiritual leader of . The episode helped propel Meshaal to the top ranks.

A cabinet minister from Netanyahu's rightist ,Ìý, said  could again target Meshaal should  not keep the Egyptian-brokered  truce of Nov. 21.

"He said he wishes to die a martyr, and there is a high probability that this last wish would be realised, and he would become a legitimate target, should the quiet be violated," Katz told .

Meshaal is making his first visit to  and is expected to return to  on Monday. He lives between ²¹²Ô»åÌý, and is the  point person for all its foreign ties.