Abbas condemns strike on Rantisi as 'terrorist attack'

Ha'aretz ^ | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Sivan 10, 5763 | Haaretz Service and Agencies

[Phil V.]

w w w . h a a r e t z d a i l y . c o m

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_{Last update - 16:06 10/06/2003}

Abbas condemns strike on Rantisi as 'terrorist attack'

_{By Haaretz Service and Agencies}

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemned Tuesday morning's Gaza City missile strike against Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi as a "terrorist attack," and Rantisi called for continuing the "holy war" until there are no more "criminal Zionists" left in Israel.

Rantisi was lightly wounded when an IDF helicopter gunship fired at least six missiles on the car that held Rantisi, killing at least two people and wounded 25 others, including Rantisi's son Ahmed.

"We will continue with our holy war and resistance until every last criminal Zionist is evicted from this land," Rantisi told the Arab TV satellite station Al Jazeera
from his hospital bed.

Abbas said the Israeli operation - which Israel confirmed several hours after the attack was an assassination attempt - was intended to sabotage peace moves.

"Palestinian Pime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemned the
criminal and terrorist Israeli attack today," Abbas's office said in a statement issued in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "Such attacks obstruct and sabotage the political process."

Rantisi, one of the best-known Hamas spokesmen, is the highest-ranking Palestinian militant to be targeted in an Israeli assassination attempt.

Hamas said that the attack was an Israeli "declaration of war," and that all cease-fire talks with the Palestinian Authority are off, Army Radio reported.

"Israel should expect that this crime...will not pass without severe punishment," senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told al-Jazeera satellite television after Rantissi was wounded.

An Israeli official said the government will keep fighting terror. "Israel hasn`t changed its policy," the official told Israel Radio. "It will continue to struggle against terrorism, because the PA does not."

The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack, which PA official Nabil Amr called an intentional derailing of the Aqaba process.

"This attack is directed against the efforts of the Palestinian government to start Palestinian dialogue with Hamas and other factions in order to have a Palestinian unanimous position concerning the cease-fire and the truce," said PA spokesman Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The Arab League echoed Abed Rabbo's condemnation. "Israel is trying to foil any move towards achieving peace," said Arab league head Amr Moussa. "This attack is not only a violation of the road map but a threat to the peace process," he told reporters in Bahrain. "Continued Israeli attacks will lead to retaliation in kind."

A United States official told Army Radio that the assassination attempt makes it difficult to move forward on the road map and that although Washington accepts Israel's right to defend itself, Israel must consider the results of its actions.

Soon after the attack, news footage showed the charred hulk of Rantisi's jeep spewing flames and black smoke. A number of people were shown hoisting an apparently badly injured man into an ambulance. Witnesses said the helicopters fired as many as seven missiles at the car and at a building where Rantisi lives.

The hardline Rantisi has repeatedly rejected appeals by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas for an end to armed attacks in the context of the Palestinian uprising. On Monday, Rantisi, 58, a dentist by profession, reiterated his opposition to a cease-fire, saying that attacks would be confined to "the occupiers," indicating that no civil war would break out among Palestinians.

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[yonif]

Something stinks in Palestine...

And there is a report on the Jpost that the PLO wants now total security control over their Gaza airport...hmmm

[yonif]

Yeah if GW would send in troops and kill Hamas, the PLO and whoever else wants to be a terrorist.... he would be undefeatable in the next election cycle.

Israel can do all that. The US just needs to give the green light.

[zx2dragon]

Israel did lay off for some time right after Sharon was made the big chief. The only thing it impacted was the body counts on both sides. More Israelis died from attacks and fewer attackers were killed.

Israel has bent over backwards to stop the situation. It's time to allow them to take care of the problem.

[Ready4Freddy]

"It's time to allow them to take care of the problem."

They have that option at any time. Doing it in a tit-for-tat, Hatfield & McCoys manner isn't getting it done, is it?

[yonif]

Bush condemns Israeli gunship attack

[Lael]

Doing it in a tit-for-tat, Hatfield & McCoys manner isn't getting it done, is it?

TRANSFER!!!

[yonif]

From Haaretz:

16:30 U.S. source: attempted hit on Rantisi in Gaza complicates efforts to proceed with the road map peace plan

16:48 White House says Bush `deeply troubled` by Israeli strike on Hamas leader Rantisi

17:05 IDF sources say Rantisi is not just Hamas spoesman, but official who sends terrorists to carry out attacks

[kegler4]

"Yeah if GW would send in troops and kill Hamas, the PLO and whoever else wants to be a terrorist.... he would be undefeatable in the next election cycle."

And just exactly how do we determine who "whoever else wants to be a terrorist" is? Was the 10-year-old boy who was seriously wounded one, or was he just a boy riding with his father? You make it sound so easy to sort it out and to find these people. We haven't even found bin Laden or Hussein yet.

And yes, I realize that Hamas kills women and children. They are terrorists and nothing else.

[Ready4Freddy]

"Israel should do what is right for Israel, not what is right for America..."

Do the piecemeal responses from Israel over the last ~2.5 years qualify? What's keeping them from getting serious, then?

[yonif]

Do the piecemeal responses from Israel over the last ~2.5 years qualify? What's keeping them from getting serious, then?

The US. Reports said they were going to place sanctions on Israel if they didn't comply, etc. and also, without the US veto in the UN, "peacekeepers" would be sent into Israel.

[Ready4Freddy]

So Israel is placing economic considerations (economic sanctions??) above what you consider right for Israel?

Does Israel believe they need the Bush admin's permission to get medieval on the palis' a$$?

[chachacha]

Gotchya! You got my vote. I couldn't agree more. I say Lets save "The LORD a trip" and do it for him.

[OXENinFLA]

Well, now that they know where this guy is going to be hopefully they'll take him out.

[trickydick62]

1) What's with the trou on that dead terrorist guy? I always wondered what was under those sheets.

and

2) Is the most recent Isreali attack really helpful during the early stages of the "peace process."

[Stultis]

Hamas said that the attack was an Israeli "declaration of war," and that all cease-fire talks with the Palestinian Authority are off, Army Radio reported.

Isn't this what they said, in response to Abbas, BEOFRE this Israeli operation?

[John_11_25]

The report as I read it stated "the Office of Abbas" issued the following statement.

This is a small place, and if this was such a big thing (they did not kill him), then Abbas would have got on TV himself and made the statement.

I think Abbas will work with the Israeli's and report the wherabouts of these terrorists (via his top security minister), then give lip service to the masses for example "We will not use force against Hammas" which he said the other day.

However, the last thing the IDF needs to do, is miss a target, now Hamas is like a cornered snake and anything is possible.

Keep you Head Down.....

[joesnuffy]

From "A Charge To Keep", by George W Bush:

"Our nation should be slow to engage troops. But when we do so, we must do so with ferocity. We must not go into a conflict unless
we go in committed to win. We can never again ask the military to fight a political war. If American's strategic interests are at stake, if
diplomacy fails, if no other option will accomlish the objective, the Commander in Chief must define the mission and allow the military to
achieve it."

[kjam22]

And yes, I realize that Hamas kills women and children. They are terrorists and nothing else.

So how come we see pictures on the web news sites of Hamas marching in the streets wearing their masks and all that... and the people standing around cheering... but no bombs falling on them? If we can take their picture, then we should be able to bomb them back to the stone age. When we get serious and eliminate terrorists, then terrorism will end. And not one day before.

You're worried about sorting them out. I'm not really. I think if you live in a country that allows these inhuman ingrates (hmmm is that a word?) to operate, you should A) Move or B) do something about them.

[kjam22]

Isn't this what they said, in response to Abbas, BEOFRE this Israeli operation?

Yep.... no news in this statement.

[kegler4]

"You're worried about sorting them out. I'm not really. I think if you live in a country that allows these inhuman ingrates (hmmm is that a word?) to operate, you should A) Move or B) do something about them."

So exactly how do infants or young children A) move or B) do something about them? I guess they should have somehow chosen better parents.