Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets of Gaza City on Friday to march in a fiery funeral procession for Ismaeel Abu Shanab, a leader of Hamas assassinated Thursday by Israel.
"Abu Shanab, rest in peace. Our armies will go forward. We are the men of the dark night," a loudspeaker said.
Local journalists estimated the crowd at about 100,000, one of the largest to turn out for a funeral of a Palestinian killed by Israel since the start of the intifada.
"The road map is being buried, only martyrdom operations will remain," a Hamas man shouted through a loudspeaker.
Addressing mourners at Gaza's main mosque, top Hamas official Abdel-Aziz Rantisi said, "We love martyrdom and we seek martyrdom." "Our leaders and followers will continue to fight until we achieve martyrdom."
Rantisi said that even if Israel killed more top Hamas leaders "another leadership will arise and continue the fight until victory."
In a related development, Osama El-Baz, the political advisor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, met with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Tel Aviv on Friday to discuss the renewed tension in the region.
Earlier Friday, al-Baz met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, prime minister Mahmud Abbas and foreign minister Nabil Shaath for three hours, Shaath told reporters. "There is a push for a new truce, a real truce, that both sides will have to respect," Shaath said. El-Baz brought Arafat a letter from Mubarak.
Meanwhile, Israel decided Thursday night on a 24-hour halt in military action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets. During this break, it will wait to see if its suspended military campaign and American pressure on the Palestinian Authority leads to the PA confronting the armed organizations, Haaretz reported Friday.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
