A leader of the Palestinian resistance organisation Hamas has said Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was incomplete, complaining it still controlled airspace and border crossings. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, also said on Tuesday that Israel's policy of assassinating the group's senior officials in Gaza was aimed at preventing Hamas candidates from participating in the January Palestinian parliamentary elections. "This policy is not new. Israel is moving at various levels against Hamas to prevent it from taking part in the coming elections in order to bring in a Palestinian authority of its own design," Abu Marzouk told journalists in Damascus. He added that the Israeli campaign against Hamas was part of an "internal political struggle" between Sharon and his main rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the leadership of the Likud Party on the one hand, and "fears of a Hamas victory" in the elections on the other hand. Abu Marzouk also complained that Gaza lacks sovereignty despite Israel's withdrawal two weeks ago, which ended a 38-year occupation of the coastal strip.