Hamas Signals Suspension of Suicide Bombings
September 24, 2001
By JOEL GREENBERG
From The New York Times
JERUSALEM, Sept. 23 There have been no Palestinian suicide
bombings in Israel since the attacks on the United States, and the militant
group Hamas has signaled that it has suspended the bombings.
Israeli officials are calling the development a tactical move by the militants in
the aftermath of President Bush's declaration of global war on terrorism.
Suicide attacks in Israeli cities, which have killed scores of people and
wounded hundreds more, have been the most devastating weapon of the
Palestinian uprising, which erupted nearly a year ago. But there have been no
such attacks since Sept. 11. Bombings, attempted bombings and high-profile
police alerts for suicide bombers almost daily events in Israel in recent
months have dropped off sharply.
Armed attacks on Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip have continued. However, the Israeli Army's chief of staff, Shaul
Mofaz, noted today that Palestinian violence had declined since Yasir Arafat,
the Palestinian leader, declared a cease-fire last week.
It is unclear how long the current pattern will last. But the American response
to the attacks on New York and Washington has prompted a re- evaluation
by Palestinian militants, based on their own statements and the views of
analysts familiar with the groups. The militants apparently want to avoid
becoming targets of the antiterror campaign or setting off heavy Israeli
retaliation in a changed international environment.
"The resistance has to take global changes into account," Ismail Abu Shanab,
a senior official of the militant Islamic group Hamas, said in remarks
published today in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
At a meeting last Thursday with representatives of several Palestinian
factions, including Hamas, Mr. Arafat urged full compliance with the
cease-fire, participants said.
The factions agreed to suspend attacks in Israel and from areas under
Palestinian control, leaving open the possibility of continuing violence in areas
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip still held by Israel, the participants said.
Members of Islamic Jihad, a faction that has carried out suicide attacks in
Israel, along with Hamas, reportedly did not attend.
Khalil Shikaki, a prominent Palestinian political analyst, said that both Hamas
and Islamic Jihad realized after the attacks on the United States that more
suicide bombings would only harm them.
"Hamas and Islamic Jihad have concluded separately that it would be suicide
for them to continue suicide attacks," Mr. Shikaki said. "They don't want to
be the focus of American attention, and they don't want to be on the wrong
side of this war. They would like to keep their war against Israel in a
completely different realm."
nytimes.com |
