Posted on 03/23/2004 5:22:06 PM PST by Indy Pendance
Hamas appointed a new head to replace its assassinated spiritual chief yesterday as Israeli defence officials said they would step up their policy of targeted killings and wipe out the Islamist group's entire leadership.
Dr Abdel Aziz Rantisi, an avowed militarist who is bitterly opposed to the existence of Israel, was named following the removal of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in a missile strike in Gaza City on Monday.
Khalid Mashaal, the Syria-based leader of the Hamas political bureau, will remain as overall Hamas leader outside the Gaza Strip and is likely to be strengthened as a result of Yassin's death.
Ismail Hanieh, a senior Hamas official, told a cheering crowd of tens of thousands in a Gaza football stadium: "After the assassination of the hero, the martyr Ahmed Yassin, a secret election was held."
Rantisi had been "chosen as the new leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement".
Rantisi, a paediatrician, immediately vowed: "We will be unified in the trenches of resistance. We will never surrender to Israeli terror. We have to strengthen the unity of the Palestinians. The continuation of resistance is going to be my goal." A veteran of Israeli jails who was injured in a targeted assassination attack in June, Rantisi has always rejected any compromise and is viewed by Israeli intelligence officials as a hardline fighter with no political plan.
"Rantisi is not a religious figure," said Ephraim Halevy, a former head of Mossad. "He is an operational leader." His appointment, he added, could lead to a "more structured" Hamas than the loose movement presided over by Yassin.
The announcement came after Israeli defence chiefs brushed aside international criticism and decided to step up their policy of targeted assassinations in an attempt to wipe out the Hamas leadership.
Israeli officials hinted that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority chairman, could also soon be on their hit list.
Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli defence minister, said: "If we continue, in a determined way, with our strikes against Hamas and other terror groups, with the means I outlined, including action against those leaders, we will bring more security to Israeli citizens."
When asked whether Mr Arafat and Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizbollah, were also "marked for death", as Yassin had been, Lt Gen Moshe Ya'alon, chief of the Israel defence forces, hinted that they might be. "I think that their responses alone yesterday show they understand that it is getting closer to them," he said.
Mr Arafat denounced the assassination as a "barbaric crime" and the Hizbollah chief threatened to make Israel "pay very dearly".
Mr Arafat has been confined to his headquarters in Ramallah for the past two years and the official policy of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, is that he should be "removed" at a time of Israel's choosing.
Opinion was divided among Israelis about the wisdom, if not the justice, of the Yassin strike. A Yediot Ahronot newspaper poll showed 60 per cent supporting the assassination with 32 per cent opposed. But 81 per cent said it would lead to an increase in terrorist attacks.
The streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were almost deserted and most buses empty last night as Israelis avoided places where suicide bombings were most likely.
"Everybody's more anxious now," said Yehudit Wade, 66, a retired English teacher who ventured out in the German Colony district of Jerusalem.
"But in Jerusalem you live in a state of constant anxiety and you take precautions."
Who you picking for the Superbowl next year? I want to get my bets in early.
He's a lot safer out there, that's for sure.
Who you picking for the Superbowl next year? I want to get my bets in early.
Wow, 26 days after Yassin was thumped down the staircase to hell. Was there a dead pool on this clown? Ml/nj, what sez you on ol' Arafatty?
I always pick the Gaints, but it rarely helps.
ML/NJ
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