GAZA CITY/JEDDAH, 8 March 2006 — Israeli leaders yesterday threatened to murder the incoming prime minister of Palestine. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and others in his Kadima party said Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas politicians could be taken out if the Palestinian group resumed attacks.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of Kadima told Army Radio that Israel would not hesitate to assassinate Hamas leaders if the group resumed attacks against Israel. Asked specifically about Ismail Haniyeh, the designated prime minister from Hamas, Mofaz said: “If Hamas... presents us with the challenge of having to confront a terror organization, then no one there will be immune. Not just Ismail Haniyeh. No one will be immune.”
Mofaz spoke a day after an Israeli airstrike on an ice cream truck killed two Islamic Jihad members and three bystanders in Gaza City. Two of those killed were children, aged eight and 14.
Haniyeh brushed aside Mofaz’ warnings. “The continued escalation aims to shed more Palestinian blood, confuse the situation and hamper... the formation of the Palestinian government,” Haniyeh said during a session of the Palestinian Parliament in Gaza City.
In the past five years, Israel has killed scores of suspected militants, along with Palestinian bystanders, in so-called targeted attacks, usually missile strikes from helicopters. Among those killed were Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his successor, Abdel Aziz Al-Rantissi.
Hamas has observed a yearlong moratorium on attacks, and Israeli security officials yesterday were quoted as saying the group had not fired homemade rockets from Gaza at Israel since the Jan. 25 parliamentary election. Islamic Jihad has taken responsibility for the daily barrages.
Mahmoud Zahar, head of the Hamas bloc in Palestine Legislative Council (Parliament) told reporters before attending the day’s session: “With the beginning of Israeli election campaign, Palestinian blood becomes cheaper. The bigger the crime that an Israeli candidate commits against Palestinians, the more chances he has of being elected. But we are advising the Israeli government to be wiser, or it will face a lot of problems.”
Saudis gave mixed reaction to the threat.
Columnist and member of the National Society for Human Rights, Abdullah Abulsamh, said these kinds of statements are part of the psychological warfare between the two sides. “It’s part of the psychological warfare between Israel and Hamas. I don’t think it is a serious threat. There are elections now in Israel and Mofaz is trying to win some rounds,” said Abulsamh to Arab News.
Sadig Malki, professor of political science at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, had a different analysis. “Hamas is trying to reverse the compromises and chances wasted by the Palestinian Authority, and that will have consequences,” said Malki. “The problem for Israel is not Haniyeh, it is the majority of the Palestinians who stand behind Hamas. So it is not a matter of assassinating one man. Israel has made every Palestinian an enemy,” added Malki.
He said Israel wanted the new Palestinian leadership to remain quiet about all its atrocities and illegal activities. But he was sure Hamas will not. “The political assassinations by Israel are supported by the United States. That is why they make these statements publicly and implement them without fear of repercussions. We should relay to the American ambassador here our objections to these unacceptable statements and actions. After all Hamas was democratically elected and Haniyeh represents the Palestinian people and we should hold the party that provides Israel with its weapons responsible for these attacks,” said Malki.
Palestinian expatriates in the Kingdom expressed their outrage at the audacity of such a public threat but they were not surprised by it.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said yesterday it had approved a $42 million aid package to help keep the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority running until Hamas forms the next government. The money, from an existing trust fund managed by the World Bank, will be used by the Palestinian Authority to meet its immediate financing needs and to avoid suspension of basic services, the international lending agency said in a statement.
