Hamas chief kisses the group upon entry into Gaza.

On his first visit to the Gaza Strip Hamas terror chief Khaled Mashal did not strike a conciliatory tone with Israel.”Today Gaza, tomorrow Ramallah and then Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa,” he said at a press conference, according to Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.

Mashal, whose family left the West Bank after the 1967 war, and who grew up in Kuwait and moved to Qatar this year after abandoning his longtime base in Syria, crossed into Gaza through the Egyptian border. Tearful, he kissed the ground upon his arrival.

Meshal said that the visit to Gaza was his “third birth” and, further explaining, said his “first birth” was his literal birth,  the second, his survival of an Israeli assassination attempt. He said his “fourth birth,” would take place “when the whole of Palestine is liberated.”

Mr. Meshal was expected to visit the house of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated in 2004 by Israel. He is also expected to visit the home of Ahmed al- Jabari and the house of the Dalu family, which lost 10 members during Operation Pillar of Defense.

The press conference was held in tandem with Ismail Haniyeh, the de facto leader of Hamas in Gaza. He called Mashaal’s visit “a historic moment for the Palestinian people and a victory for our people.”

The three-day visit is meant to coincide with Saturday’s 25th anniversary celebration of the founding of Hamas.

According to The Times of Israel Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Thursday that Israel has no say over who enters Gaza from Egypt. “We have no position on different individuals within Hamas,” he said when asked about the Meshal visit. “Hamas is Hamas is Hamas.”

A video of Mashal’s arrival can be viewed below: