The warning by Hamas that Israel will “drown in a sea of blood” if it tries to kill Sheikh Ahmed Yassin should not be taken lightly. Last summer, when Israel launched seven assassination attempts on Hamas leaders over a five-day period, the result was a Hamas bus bomb that killed 17 people.
Hamas’ warning was in response to a threat by Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister that the policy of assassinating Palestinian leaders would be resumed. The minister believes Yassin personally ordered a suicide bombing at a Gaza-Israel crossing point last week that killed four Israelis and has, consequently, made him a marked man.
Yassin denied any direct involvement in any attacks by Hamas against Israeli targets but apparently Israel has decided to play judge, jury and executioner all at once. Extrajudicial executions are prohibited in all circumstances by international human rights laws. However, Israel is adopting a pick and choose approach to human rights laws. It appears to be trying to create rights-free zones — creating a set of conditions in which some individuals are apparently considered outside the reach of both international human rights and humanitarian law. This is not to mention the other civilian casualties from targeted assassinations. As has been the case many times, the assailant can never be sure that the target in question will be the only victim. Even the United States, Israel’s closest ally, while condemning the Hamas suicide bombing, told Israel to consider the consequences of its actions.
One bright piece of news has been the Israeli Army’s decision yesterday to lift a blanket travel ban on Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip which was imposed after the suicide attack. Some 15,000 workers were given permission to return to their jobs in Israel. As many as 20,000 Palestinians use the crossing into Israel each day to get to work.
The defense minister also softened his remarks about Yassin, saying he was not being officially targeted. But past experience shows that the crossing could very easily be closed again and Yassin’s name could easily jump to the top of Israel’s list of targets. Yassin has already survived one Israeli attempt on his life. Last September, an Israeli warplane dropped a bomb on a building in Gaza where he and top Hamas leaders were meeting but Yassin emerged unscathed. But now, following Israeli comments — “We will find him in the tunnels and we will eliminate him” — Yassin’s life is in danger every moment.
Israel has assassinated a number of Hamas commanders but killing the movement’s spiritual leader, respected by thousands of Palestinians, even by those who do not support it, would be a dramatic escalation and would surely provoke revenge bombings.
