A member of the Islamic Hamas movement 's politburo on Sunday returned to the Gaza Strip from volatile Syria.

Imal Al-Alami, a Gaza native, was deported from his hometown in 1991 to Lebanon. After that, he settled in Syria together with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal.

Dozens of Hamas leaders and supporters gathered at Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday evening to receive the returning leader, chanting Allah Akbar (God is Great) when he and his family arrived.

Sources said Al-Alami was the last Hamas politburo member to leave Damascus.

However, Hamas did not officially announce that it was moving its headquarters from Damascus.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, told Xinhua that Al-Alami was in Gaza for a visit, but refused to say how long he would stay here.

A Hamas military source said Al-Alami's life was not secured in Gaza because he was once on the top of a list of people wanted by Israel.

A Hamas official told Xinhua Saturday that the Hamas leadership had not yet found any official foothold after leaving Syria.

The Islamic movement had asked several Arab countries to host its leadership over the past weeks, "but the requests were either neglected or rejected," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The Hamas leadership has been based in Damascus since 1999. In 2007, its militants took over control of the Gaza Strip after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. However, the leadership preferred to stay in Syria to stay away from Israel and to overcome movement restrictions imposed by the former Egyptian government on Hamas officials in Gaza.