Israeli strike kills top Hamas enforcer

AP on Yahoo ^ | 6/8/06 | Ibrahim Barzak - ap

[NormsRevenge]

GAZA CITY, GAZA Strip - An Israeli airstrike Thursday killed the top Hamas enforcer in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital officials and group members said.

Israel has accused militant faction leader Jamal Abu Samhadana of spearheading rocket attacks on Israel and of the fatal 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip that killed three American security guards.

Two other people were killed and seven were wounded in a strike on a Popular Resistance Committees training camp.

The 43-year-old militant had been No. 2 on Israel's wanted list and had tried to avoid detection by moving stealthily, switching cars and hideouts.

In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Abu Samhadana railed against the U.S. government, saying he's happy whenever American soldiers are killed and vowed not to take Hamas' 3,000-strong militia off the streets.

The U.S. and Israeli-led boycott of the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority is "cheap extortion" that only serves "to make our people more attached to the government," he said in the interview, held at a clandestine location chosen by his group.

Abu Samhadana graduated from a military school in then-communist East Germany in 1988. He was loyal to Yasser Arafat for many years, but was later expelled from Arafat's group Fatah.

He formed the Popular Resistance Committees, a violent group consisting of militants from various factions, after the latest Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000.

His appointment as director general of the Hamas-led Interior Ministry infuriated both Israel and Hamas' Fatah rivals, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

After Hamas' victory in Jan. 25 legislative elections, the group deployed its 3,000-strong militia, whose rifle-toting black-clad members guard streets throughout Gaza.

Abu Samhadana has said the force will remain in place despite criticism by Hamas' detractors that it's a major source of friction and instability.

[NormsRevenge]

Jamal Abu Samhadana, 45, leader of the Popular Resistence Committees is seen in this Sept. 19, 2005 file photo. An Israeli air strike Thursday killed Palestinian militant faction leader Jamal Abu Samhadana, members of the group and Palestinian hospital officials said. Abu Samhadana was a key player in rocket attacks on Israel and a suspect in the fatal 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip.Two other people were killed and seven were wounded in a strike on a Popular Resistance Committees training camp. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)

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Jamal Abu Samhadana, commander of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), talks to militants in Gaza in this July 8, 2005 file photo. Samhadana, a senior Palestinian security official in the Hamas government, was killed on Thursday in an Israeli aerial attack on a militant camp in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

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Palestinians carry the body of the Hamas government's security chief and leader of the Popular Resistence Committees, Jamal Abu Samhadana, 45, after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike late Thursday June 8, 2006. An Israeli air strike Thursday killed Samhadana, members of the group and Palestinian hospital officials said. Abu Samhadana was a key player in rocket attacks on Israel and a suspect in the fatal 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military confirmed striking the Popular Resistance Committees camp in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, saying militants there were planning a large-scale attack on Israel. Three other people were killed and 10 were wounded by the four missiles fired at the training camp.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

[nonliberal]

Not a good day to be a MuSLIME is it?

[Marine_Uncle]

Another rotten bag of $hit going into the deep hot coal bed of hell. Way to go IAF!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He can look forward to a fireside chat with Mohammed.

[Mikey_1962]

I have nothing but respect for the IDF; they know the rules (there are no rules), they know their enemy, and they deal with the enemy directly (with extreme prejudice).

[umgud]

The good news just keeps coming.

[elhombrelibre]

Fine shootin', I'd say.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Abu Samhadana's body should be flown to the U.S., transported to a Purina plant and ground up and mixed with swine feed.

[Marine_Uncle]

Yea. And as he sits on the bed of red hot coals, $ss burning and steaming away, he can watch the zman and prophet do the same. Surely Zawahari and Binny Boy would love to join them in a fire side chat.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Bad Dream Boogie for the Bad Guys, I'd say...

[X-WING]

Good day. Just getting better and better.

[Marine_Uncle]

Yea. And a bad dream for many a radical muslim world wide. They are sooooo crafty in how they call their goon heros matyres. Yet when the US tanks rolled into Baggy Dad in 2003 and the Butcher of Baggy Dad flew the coop to hide, the A Rab world where all so down cast....how could Iraq had fallen in such as short time, with so few losses to the US and British forces. Same deal here. They are in self denie on a constant basis. It is their heritage. The Lord God a long time ago had pronounced this misfortune on them. Sad but that is the way it is.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

I love a happy ending. **sniffle**

[Mark17]

He can look forward to a fireside chat with Mohammed.

No doubt an eternal chat, where the topic at hand is the temperature of the surroundings.

[bpjam]

I guess this means that they are accepting applications???

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We can hope.

[no dems]

Wow! It's been a great 36 hours.

[DAC22]

Damn, can this day get any better? Hold on.. Freepers...
what's that.....Jessica Alba just pulled up in my driveway!!!!

[steel_resolve]

such a perfect day!!!

[facedown]

Nothing like a muzzy twofer. Now let's hope for a hat trick.