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Israel Army Kills 2 Palestinian Militants

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 March 2004, 06:00 CST

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement and raided a refugee camp on Wednesday, as new fighting erupted following the assassination of Hamas' spiritual leader.

The Israeli army said early Wednesday that the two Palestinian militants were killed while trying to infiltrate the Gaza Strip settlement of Morag. Troops also confiscated a bag full of explosives.

The men were dressed in camouflage and flakjackets and were armed with assault rifles, the army said. Hamas claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

In the Khan Younis refugee camp, Israeli forces razed four Palestinian farms, partially demolished two houses and destroyed a road linking two parts of the shantytown during an overnight raid, Palestinian officials said. The troops withdrew from the area early Wednesday.

The army said it had removed some brush and two abandoned buildings that were used to fire on settlements. It said troops opened fire after being attacked by an anti-tank missile and gunfire. No casualties on either side were reported.

Israel announced Tuesday that it would attempt to kill the entire leadership of Hamas, despite international condemnation of Monday's airstrike that killed Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Hamas' pledges to retaliate.

The militant group picked hard-liner Abdel Aziz Rantisi as its new leader in the Gaza Strip.

Later Tuesday, Israeli gunboats opened fire off the coast of Gaza, witnesses said. No one was hurt. The Israeli military said gunboats fired at a suspicious object.

Around the same time, Israeli helicopters opened fire at guerrillas setting up rocket launchers aimed at Israel in south Lebanon, the military said. Lebanese officials identified them as Palestinians and said two were killed and one wounded in the Israeli airstrike.

The constant Israeli military operations were aimed at stopping Palestinians from carrying out revenge attacks after Israel's killing Monday of Yassin, who founded Hamas in 1987.

Hamas has threatened revenge attacks of unprecedented scope, and Israel beefed up security throughout the country and at missions abroad.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry withdrew diplomats and their families from missions in the Arab countries of Qatar and Mauritania. The ministry said the decision was precautionary and it had not received any specific threats.

Hamas also has hinted that Americans might be targeted. The United States repeated a longstanding warning urging Americans to stay out of Gaza and issued a worldwide advisory warning Americans overseas of increasing threats from groups like Hamas and al-Qaida.

Rantisi, a 54-year-old pediatrician, is a well-known spokesman for the militant group and rejects even a temporary suspension of the struggle against Israel. Hamas' overall leader remains Khaled Mashal, who heads the group's political bureau in Damascus, Syria. The group does not recognize the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East.

Tens of thousands of cheering Palestinians at a Gaza City soccer stadium greeted Rantisi's announcement Tuesday that he had been chosen leader. One by one, senior Hamas officials got up and swore loyalty to him.

"My people, we must unify under the umbrella of resistance," he said, and exhorted the Hamas military wing to "teach this Zionist occupation a lesson."

With his new post, Rantisi will likely become an even more tempting target for Israel's military, which wounded him in a missile attack on his car last year.

On Monday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and various security agency chiefs decided to go after all the Hamas leaders, a security official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel's accelerated strikes at Hamas are part of an attempt to score a decisive victory ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel does not want to be seen as being driven out of the strip by militants, who are already claiming victory.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was in Washington this week to discuss the withdrawal plan.

Shalom told Army Radio on Wednesday that the United States had been cool to the Israeli idea of recognizing some Israeli settlements in the West Bank in return for the Gaza pullback. Several top leaders have said they would only support the pullback if the United States offers something in return.

Despite the Israeli threats, the Hamas leaders apparently in Israel's crosshairs - Rantisi, Mahmoud Zahar and Ismail Haniyeh - made rare public appearances, though surrounded by a shield of civilians.

Since Monday night, the three have spent long hours at Gaza City's Yarmouk Stadium, where Hamas set up an official mourning tent, accepting condolences.

"We are still working and will continue ... and they (Israelis) will fail and they will leave this land," Zahar said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia briefly paid his condolences. The Palestinian Authority declared three days of mourning, and stores throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip were closed. Hamas is the biggest rival to the authority, but Palestinian leaders treat the movement with care because of its popularity.

Hamas wants to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. Israel says Hamas killed 377 Israelis in hundreds of attacks, including 52 suicide bombings, over the years.

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