HAMAS
LEADER ASSASSINATED
22 March 2004
Israel
has assassinated the founder and spiritual leader
of Hamas, Sheik Ahmad Yassin, in what it calls a 'targetted
killing'. 7 other people were killed in the missile
strike. In response to the assassination, the Palestinian
PM said the attack is designed to derail the Roadmap
to Peace. World leaders have condemned the killing;
the US has said the act is "deeply troubling",
urging restraint on both sides.
An
estimated 200,000 Palestinians marched in Yassin's
funeral procession. It is the wheelchair-bound Sheik's
widespread popularity among Palestinians that provokes
the greatest concern about a new and possibly unprecedented
level of escalation in the conflict. Populations and
governments throughout the Middle East have expressed
outrage, and the Lebanese guerrilla group, Hezbollah
has reportedly launched an attack on Israel's northern
border, in response to the incident, the first cross-border
combat in 5 months.
Israel
has repeatedly justified its use of assassination
by helicopter strike as a legitimate act of national
self-defense, though many world leaders, diplomats
and human rights activists say the strikes violate
international law.
The
assassination itself is puzzling to many, considering
recent events, in which Israel's PM Sharon had declared
his intention to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza
strip, and to forcibly evacuate settlements there.
Some now believe the strike is intended as a message
to Israel's enemies, and to conservative Israeli voters,
that the PM is not caving in to the demands of terrorists
by abandoning Gaza.
For
his part, the PM (along with his government) has said
that the killing will ensure long-term Israeli security,
by undermining the leadership of the radical Hamas
movement. There is also word that recent suicide attacks
led the Israeli cabinet to decide it would assassinate
Yassin, as a direct response and a security measure.
Through Hamas, Sheik Yassin had been linked to terrorist
attacks, which he refused to publicly condemn. His
supporters claim that he was a spiritual leader, tied
to the political wing of the Hamas movement, and that
military operations were not known to him, but Israel
refutes this claim, alleging that he actively participated
in planning and recruiting.
Protesters
across the Middle East called for revenge, and reports
indicate that the Israeli public is now bracing for
a new wave of attacks, already promised by Hamas.
The group has been repeatedly targetted by Israel,
because its charter openly calls for the elimination
of the Jewish state, and its confessed terrorist activities
have led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent Israeli
civilians. Both Hamas and the Israeli government view
their relationship as one of all-out war, and violence
is expected to ensue. [For more: FT]
