Saturday, November 24, 2001 Kislev 9, 5762 Israel Time: 19:18 (GMT+2)
12:35 23/11/2001 Last update - 19:16 24/11/2001
Hamas: 'Painful response' to IDF killing of senior activist
By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Correspondent, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies
Palestinians gather around the car of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud near the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday.
(Photo: Reuters)
The funeral for three Hamas activivts killed Friday night in the West Bank took place in Jenin on Saturday morning. The three, among them senior Hamas member Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, who headed Israel's most-wanted list, were killed next to the village of Kfar Farah, close to the West Bank city of Nablus, when an IDF helicopter fired missiles on their car.
The other two were identified as Mahmoun Rashid Hashaika, and his brother, Ahmed, from the village of Tuluza near Nablus. The two men were known to be Hanoud's closest aides.
The funeral procession made its way to the villages of Tuluza and Asira a-Shmailya, near Nablus. Palestinian sources said that 20,000 Palestinians attended the procession.
According to Palestinian sources, tens of thousands of Palestinians also attended a Hamas rally held in Gaza on Saturday afternoon. Masked Palestinians chanted anti-Israel slogans as Hamas promised that, "revenge will be ours soon, powerfully and in Tel Aviv."
A senior Hamas official in Gaza, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, also said that Hamas would respond harshly to the killing. "Experience shows that the organization [Hamas] has always responded to Israel's crimes and always strikes back. God willing, there will be a painful response against the enemy," he said.
The Prime Minister's Office published an official statement Friday night claiming responsibility for the killing. The statement said that Hanoud had been involved in a long line of terror attacks against Israelis and that he had recently planned a number of suicide attacks.
A short time after the attack, a senior Hamas activist in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Azahar, told Abu Dhabi Television that Hanoud was still alive. However, hospital sources in Jenin said not long after midnight that members of Hanoud's family had identified his body.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, advisor to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, said Friday that "the escalation of violence that Israel has begun over the past few days has crossed all red lines." Rudeineh accused Israel of attempting to sabotage U.S. mediation efforts.
Nablus governor Mahmoud al-Aloul said the killing was a "new crime" by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "It is clear that Sharon insists on the continuation of his aggression and... in aborting all the attempts to cool down the conflict," he told Reuters. |
