Hamas pledges to keep fighting, as does Israel

By Arieh O'Sullivan, Special for USA TODAY

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TEL AVIV, Israel — The Hamas terrorist group chose a hard-liner Tuesday to replace its assassinated spiritual leader, and Israeli security officials said they had reached a turning point in their war against Palestinian guerrillas.

The assassination early Monday of Sheik Ahmed Yassin was the most dramatic move to date by Israel, which has embarked on a campaign to crush the leadership of groups such as Hamas in Gaza ahead of a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

President Bush, in his first remarks on Monday's killing of Yassin, a quadriplegic cleric whose group has carried out dozens of suicide bombings, defended what he called Israel's right to defend itself against terror. "And as she does so, I hope she keeps consequences in mind as to how to make sure we stay on the path to peace," he said.

Palestinians reacted to Yassin's death with vows to unleash an unprecedented wave of terror. "We will fight them everywhere. We will hit them everywhere. We will chase them everywhere," said Abdel Aziz Rantisi, 54, a pediatrician who was elected Hamas' new leader in a secret election in Gaza on Tuesday.

Rantisi has urged accelerated attacks on Israel and said there is no room for compromise. Hamas suggested Monday that it might attack U.S. targets. [...] "Motivation is high, but it all comes down to capability," said Brig. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank.

Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv on combating terror, Eisenkot said his forces arrest an average of 30 suspected terrorists every night. He also said a security barrier being built to separate Israel and the West Bank is preventing terrorist infiltrations into Israel.

According to Israeli army statistics, security forces thwarted 400 suicide bombings last year; 18 were successful. The number of Israeli casualties was 40% lower than in 2002, Eisenkot said.

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Date and publication rest on the collector's slide label; no masthead, folio or printed dateline appears on this clipping.

Context added by this archive

Section flag above the headline reads "World" — not a dek. Photo caption: "Thousands protest: Israeli Arabs in Nazareth denounce the assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who used a wheelchair." (credit: By Uriel Sinai, Getty Images).

A boxed sidebar photo at right carries the pull quote "We will fight them": Abdel Aziz Rantisi makes his way through a crowd in Gaza after being elected leader of Hamas. (credit: By Kevin Frayer, AP). Story ends "Contributing: Wire reports". Eisenkot is a brigadier general here, West Bank commander.

Cite this clipping

"Hamas pledges to keep fighting, as does Israel," USA Today, 24 March 2004. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2004-047. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2004-047