Israel's killing of Yassin fuels conflict: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Israel's killing of Yassin fuels conflict: Commentary

Israeli assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, deals a heavy blow to the already staggering peace process in the Middle East, the People's Daily said in a commentary on Tuesday. Yassin's assassination will only sow more seeds of hatred among Palestinians, who have vowed to unleash a wave of revenge attacks on Israel.

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Spiritual leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Sheik Ahmed Yassin was killed Monday in an Israeli air raid. As the news came out thousands upon thousands of Palestinian people took to the street to condemn and protest against Israel's assassination of their leader. At such a critical moment when Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to escalate, this serious event will doubtlessly further worsen the situation.

Recent years have seen twists and turns in the Middle East peace process and a stalemate in the peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Contradictions between the two sides witnessed no relief despite the mediation efforts by the international community. From the deadlock of the "roadmap" plan to the erection of the fences, from the long-term besiege of Arafat to the continuous implementation of the "fixed-point cleaning-up" policy, no progress has been made in the peace talks, on the contrary, there has emerged a worrisome trend of retrogression. Israel's killing of Yassin, a paralytic near 70, will neither bring security to itself, nor pushing the peace process onto the right track at an early date.

Since "September 11", taking on a ride of US-led anti-terrorism campaign in the Middle East, Israel has put more stress on "security for peace" and, relying on its super-strong military capacity and using extremist means such as "body elimination", has ruthlessly hunted leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian radical organizations. Israel's actions have met with the armed counterattack by Palestinian radical forces. The increasing suicide bomb attacks on the Israeli land are, in a certain sense, a response to Israel's high-handed policy. .

Recently, Israel was ready to take "unilateral action" to withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip, to achieve this, the Sharon government demanded Palestine to take effective measures to strike radical forces within Palestine so as to secure a stable situation after Israel's withdrawal. The killing of Yassin occurred just when the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was making arrangements with related departments to deal with any happenings after Israeli withdrawal. So the aim of Israel's killing of Yassin is crystal clear, that is, to get rid of the threat posed to Israel's security by Palestinian radical forces.

Israel's adventurous behavior no doubt added fuel to the flame of the conflict, for it would only serve to sow more seeds of hatred and hidden perils between the two sides. After Yassin was assassinated, Hamas declared immediate "earthquake-like" revenges while Israel pledged continuous hard strike of Hamas. The two sides are likely to be dragged into another round of endless "violence for violence", which is what the international community does not want to see and runs counter to the desire of both Israelis and Palestinians for peace.

Conflict between Israel and Palestine is the most complicated and lasting one in the world. History has proved, and will continue to prove, that there is no other way than peace talks to end conflicts between the two sides. The day when just, lasting and comprehensive peace is achieved is the time when the two sides thoroughly shake off the shadow of violence scare.

By People's Daily Online

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