Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has gone underground following Israeli threats to start a new assassination campaign targeting Hamas leaders, the Al-Quds al-Arabi daily reported on Monday, According to the newspaper, Haniyeh has disclosed his whereabouts only to his closest aids and guards.
It said leaders of other factions, including the Islamic Jihad, have adopted similar steps.
According to Israeli reports, the Israeli army and the "Shin Bet" internal security service are preparing to step up assassinations against key Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip in response to the continued Qassam rocket attacks against the Israeli town of Sderot.
Israel's Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer Monday urged stepping up assassinations of Hamas leaders, as well as Qassam rocket squads and their commanders. "They don't know when the missile is going to reach them, and that is the [point of] the focused prevention [assassination]," he told Israel's Army Radio. "We needn't have mercy, rather to go will all our might," he said. "The IDF is ready to perform if called upon."
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
