Hamas Leader Escapes Attack

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Hamas Leader Escapes Attack

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Israel tried to kill the public face of Hamas Tuesday, wounding Palestinian militant Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in a helicopter strike that brought swift calls for revenge and may shatter a US-backed peace plan.

Witnesses said two helicopter gunships fired seven missiles that set Rantissi's car ablaze in Gaza City, killing two people and wounding about 20. Rantissi leapt clear just in time and later vowed from his hospital bed to continue attacks on Israel.

Israeli security sources said he had been the target.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he described as "the criminal and terrorist Israeli attack." Though Hamas had defied Abbas' plea for it to stop killing Israelis, Abbas said such Israeli actions "sabotage" the peace process.

US President George W. Bush scolded Israel yesterday for the attack, warning that such a strike "does not contribute to the security of Israel."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The president is concerned that this strike will undermine efforts by Palestinian authorities to bring an end to terrorist attacks, and it does not contribute to the security of Israel."

Rantissi is a senior political aide to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and has taken on the informal role of spokesman for the Islamic group, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel and opposes the peace "roadmap."

He has claimed centre stage over the past week in rejecting calls by Abbas to cease attacks on Israelis. "We will maintain our jihad (holy struggle) and resistance until we kick out every single criminal Zionist from our land," Rantissi told al-Jazeera television by telephone from Gaza's Shifa Hospital.

Israeli security sources said Rantissi tried to recruit Israeli Arabs into Hamas. "Israel will continue to fight terror... because the Palestinian Authority isn't doing it," one senior source said.

The strike was launched a day after Israel took first steps to meet a pledge under the internationally-backed roadmap by tearing down 10 of an estimated 60 Jewish settler outposts, all unauthorized by the Israeli Government, in the West Bank.

The removal of the clusters of caravans on lonely hilltops, which began on Monday, set Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on a path to confrontation with settlers he had long championed. But he drew Palestinian derision.

"This is a theatrical and insignificant step," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a top aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed the Israeli move. "I'm pleased that Israel is now discharging the commitment it made to the international community at the (Jordanian city of) Aqaba summit," Powell said in Chile.

The army said it had removed "unauthorized structures" at 10 outposts. Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim said 15 outposts, including the 10 already dismantled, would go at this stage.

Benzi Lieberman, leader of the Yesha Council representing the 220,000 settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, said settlers would not fight the soldiers but would bring tens of thousands of protesters to rallies in settlements and Israeli cities.

Boim said further steps by Israel would depend on Abbas and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan reining in militants spearheading the 32-month-old uprising for statehood, which were also part of what the peace plan proposed.

But Abbas has sought a dialogue with Hamas, hoping to seal a truce and avoid a Palestinian civil war.

But Hamas broke off ceasefire talks after the summit, accusing Abbas of making too many concessions to Sharon.

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