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Rayyan Trained His Kids to Die by Maayana Miskin (IsraelNN.com) When Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan was assassinated in an IAF strike last week, his four wives and 11 of his children died with him. According to his surviving children, the death of the Rayyan family children was not an accident: Rayyan had trained his wives and children to die with him as "martyrs." Surviving family members spoke to local Arab media and said that in the days before his death, Rayyan had repeatedly asked his children, "Who wants to die with me as a martyr?" The children would respond, "Yes,...

"THE BRIEF LIFE AND EXQUISITE MARTYRDOM OF A HAMAS MORTAR CREW" Snippet: "Via Hamas' al-Aqsa TV station, said to be filmed in Jabaliya on 06 January 2008. At about 1'15" the crew is hit by an apparent Israeli counter-strike."

Bodies of Hamas leader's children paraded as group promises 'painful' revenge for their deaths By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 1:23 PM on 03rd January 2009 The bodies of a senior Hamas leader's small children were today ghoulishly paraded through the streets of Gaza as the group pledged to avenge their deaths. Nizar Rayan, his four wives and 10 of his children were all killed by in an Israeli air strike on his home after he ignored warnings they should go into hiding. In grisly scenes, mourners held up the bloodied bodies of the children to the cameras in...

NIZAR RAYAN AND ISRAEL'S 2,000 POUND BOMB - 500 Miles

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas' top five decision-makers Thursday, instantly killing him and 18 others, while the Israeli army said troops massed on the Gaza border were ready for any order to invade. The airstrike on Nizar Rayan was the first that succeeded in killing a member of Hamas' highest echelon since Israel began its offensive Saturday. The 49-year-old professor of Islamic law was known for personally participating in clashes with Israeli forces and for sending one of his sons on a 2001 suicide mission that...

Nizar Rayyan, the Hamas military commander who was killed in Thursday's air raid on his home in the Jabalya refugee camp, was a sworn enemy not only of Israel, but also of the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas. Rayyan, who had four wives and a dozen children, led the Hamas militiamen who defeated Abbas's security forces in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. He is the third most senior Hamas leader to be killed by Israel, after the targeted killings of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March 2004 and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a...

"OPERATION CAST LEAD The IDF's Fight Against Terror in Gaza" # A blessed New Year to everyone here and abroad. Today's thread beginning January 1, 2009 (U.S.A. Time)

Hamas warned on Thursday that the organization's response to the targeted killing of one of its leaders by Israel would be "strong and painful." Meanwhile, a member of one of the other armed factions in Gaza said that the group might attempt to launch rockets deeper into Israeli territory following the strike against Nizar Rayyan earlier in the day. Some 50 rockets have been fired on Israel throughout Thursday. No injuries were reported, but damage was caused to some buildings.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel dropped a one-ton bomb on the home of a Hamas strongman Thursday, killing him along with two wives and four children in the first attack on the top leadership of Gaza's rulers. As the aerial bombardment escalated, the army said it was also poised to launch a ground invasion. Israel also appeared to be sounding out a possible diplomatic exit from the 6-day-old military offensive against Hamas by demanding international monitors as a key term of any future truce. The bombing targeted 49-year-old Nizar Rayan, ranked among Hamas' top five decision-makers in Gaza. His...

On eve of his death, Hamas leader Nizar Rayan predicted victory By Adel Zaanoun Agence France-Presse January 02, 2009 03:45am THE day before a powerful blast sent his headless body flying out of his Gaza home, senior Hamas leader Nizar Rayan predicted that the Islamist movement would defeat Israel. "God willing, Hamas will win," Rayan said in a vitriol-laden speech that the movement's television broadcast just after he, his four wives and two of his daughters were killed in the Israeli blitz of the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Rayan, who was 51, is the most senior Hamas leader killed since...

Israel assassinated a Hamas strongman Thursday in its first assault on the top leadership of Gaza's rulers, escalating a crushing aerial offensive even as it declared it was ready to launch a ground invasion. The airstrike targeted the eight-story apartment building in the Jebaliya refugee camp that was home to Nizar Rayan, 52, ranked among Hamas' top five decision-makers in Gaza. The attack killed 12 other people including two of Rayan's four wives and four of his 12 children, Palestinian health officials said. The Muslim faith allows men to have up to four wives. While escalating its 6-day-old military offensive...

Jan 1, 2009 17:48 Nizar Rayyan considered successor of Ahmed Yassin By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP Sheikh Nizar Rayyan, 52, a senior Hamas leader and cleric, was killed along with several others on Thursday when an IAF aircraft dropped a bomb on the eight-story Jabalya apartment building he lived in, the IDF said. Sheikh Nizar Ryan, a senior Hamas leader, was reportedly killed by IAF strikes on Thursday. Palestinian medics said that nine people were killed, including two of Rayyan's four wives and four of his 12 children, and around 30 were wounded in the air strike.

A senior Hamas leader has been killed by an Israeli air strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, Hamas officials say. Nizar Rayyan has been a vocal critic of Israel, urging suicide attacks against the Jewish state.