More than 100,000 Palestinians gathered in Gaza Saturday for a rally marking the 25th anniversary of Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian militant group.

Khaled Meshaal, the long-time exiled leader of Hamas, spoke at the rally. He has congratulated the Palestinian resistance for remaining steadfast during the recent eight days of violence with Israel.

Several countries have sent delegations to the Hamas celebration.

The celebration comes two weeks after an Egyptian-brokered truce ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Gaza in recent years.

Meshaal set foot in Gaza for the first time Friday after crossing from Egypt. He was greeted by crowds of supporters, including Gaza's Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, other Hamas leaders and friends.

Meshaal had not visited the Palestinian territories since leaving the Israeli-occupied West Bank after the 1967 Six-Day War. He returned in 1975 but only for a brief visit. The exiled Hamas chief has been leading the Islamic militant movement from Qatar and has most recently been in Egypt.

Meshaal was nearly assassinated in Jordan in 1997 by Israeli agents who squirted a deadly poison into his ear, surviving only when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was persuaded by international mediation to provide Meshaal with an antidote.

Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the West, which backs the rival and more moderate Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. But Meshaal's visit points to Hamas' improving stature in the Middle East following the revolutions of the Arab Spring.

Hamas won a parliamentary majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and ousted Fatah forces from Gaza a year later. Since then, the two sides have led rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza.