GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip ? The militant group Hamas came out of hiding Saturday to hold a mass news conference, distributing the phone numbers of 34 multilingual spokesmen in a fight for control of the Gaza Strip ahead of Israel’s withdrawal next week.

As the struggle heats up between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority – both of whom claim responsibility for Israel’s evacuation of 21 Gaza Strip settlements and four West Bank enclaves – the weapons of choice are unusually media friendly.

Determined to win the airwaves, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday inaugurated a special Gaza-withdrawal media center, complete with live-feed points for TV crews, a 24-hour text messaging service for news updates, maps, and free hats and T-shirts.

“The center will facilitate the media in all they need. … A group of Cabinet ministers and officials will be ready at all times to answer your questions,” Abbas assured journalists.

Palestinian security officers raise their guns as they tour Palestinian checkpoints Saturday along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and the outskirts of the Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip.

Also Saturday, Hamas’ founders and top political leaders gathered on the same stage for the first time in a decade, vowing to go on fighting Israel and claiming victory for the impending withdrawal.

The news conference came two days after another Hamas first, inviting TV cameras to film a nighttime training exercise, complete with militants rappelling down high-rise walls and jumping through flaming hoops.

The group decided to hire spokesmen, fluent in Arabic, English and French, “to take on the huge responsibility of educating the world about the importance of the withdrawal,” said Mushir Masri, one of the spokesmen.

“The media presence is in high demand, especially since the enemy has been defeated and there is no longer a security concern preventing (Hamas) from appearing in public,” Masri told The Associated Press.

The Hamas leadership went underground after Israel began targeting the group’s highest ranks, including spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, both killed by missile strikes.

Hamas leaders, from left, Mahmoud Zahar, Muhammed Shamaa, Abdel Fatah Dukhan, Ismail Haniya, Said Siyam and Nizar Rayyan take part in a Hamas press conference Saturday in Gaza City.

But recently Hamas has been openly challenging the Palestinian Authority and even made a strong showing in West Bank and Gaza municipal elections.

At the news conference Saturday, its top leaders said Abbas’ Fatah movement could not be the sole decision-making body and insisted Hamas has the right to possess arms.

The Islamic group does not plan to battle the Palestinian Authority but “rejects the idea of allowing any single party to monopolize the decision-making process,” he added.

The Hamas news conference came just a day after Abbas attended the first official Palestinian Authority celebration of Israel’s upcoming withdrawal, promising his people that the Gaza pullout is a first step to independence.

At Friday’s rally, Cabinet minister Mohammed Dahlan said all events would take place under the official Palestinian flag – a warning to Hamas, which is planning its own military-style celebrations.