Hamas leader and Palestinian candidate for Prime Minster, Ismail Haniyeh, may be a target of an Israeli assassination attack, said Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Tuesday.
"If Hamas as a terror organization faces us with this challenge of the state of Israel confronting a terrorist organization, no one there is immune, not just Ismail Haniyeh, no one there is immune," Mofaz on Israeli radio according to Haaretz, referring to a possible renewal of attacks by Hamas against Israel.
Mofaz, whose comments are similar to that of acting Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, said that Israel would continue its present pace of "focused prevention," a local euphemism for Israel's policy of targeted assassinations without due process of law.
"This policy is correct. It will continue," Mofaz said.
Israel on Monday killed five people in the Gaza Strip during an aerial assassination attack on two Islamic Jihad activists.
Four civilians, including two siblings aged eight and fifteen were also killed in the attack.
Despite stating that its policy of assassinations is succeeding in deterring further attacks, Israeli spokesmen also said that Israel expects retaliations by Palestinians following the strike.
"After two of their commanders are killed one after another, even an extremist organization like Islamic Jihad thinks twice about its terror activities. They see that Qassam rockets barely succeed in causing any damage and that those who fire the rockets are paying with their lives," a security source told reporters on Monday.
"Islamic Jihad is sure to react to the assassination, however, in the long term, our military activities will deter their terror activities," he added.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
