A senior Hamas operative was killed Saturday night in the West Bank city of Hebron by special Israeli forces. Abdullah Qawasme, the head of Hamas' military wing in city, has been wanted by Israel for some time.
The Israeli army said it had shot him during an attempt to arrest him, but Palestinian sources said he was assassinated.
Palestinian Authority minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said that the killing "is another proof that the Israelis are... continuing the assassinations. These operations are meant to obstruct any success of the dialogue to reach a truce," Abed Rabbo added.
According to Israeli sources, Qawasme is believed to have been behind the most recent bombing attacks in Haifa on March 5, the Jerusalem suicide bus bombings on Jaffa Street on June 11, and at French Hill on May 18, in which over 40 people were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that the killing of Qawasme was "important" operation, which will increase the security of the Israeli citizens. "I would like to thank the security forces for last night's successful and very important action in Hebron. This was a vital action designed to provide security for Israel's citizens," Sharon was quoted as saying.
Sharon further told ministers that Israel would continue to carry out such operations unless the Palestinian Authority implements a pledge to fight "terrorism," Israel Radio reported.
On his part, Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior Hamas leader, told al-Jazeera television: "If Palestinian blood is shed, then Israeli blood will be shed." Rantisi warned that the killing "would not go unpunished."
Hamas' military wing, said in a statement faxed to Reuters: "The thundering retaliation for the cowardly assassination operation is coming by God's will. The Zionists will curse themselves a thousand times for committing their crime against leader Abdullah Qawasme".
Elsewhere, a Palestinian man was killed Sunday by Israeli troops near the Morag settlement in the southern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, three home-made Qassam rockets were fired Sunday morning from the northern Gaza Strip into in an open
area west of the Israeli town of Sderot. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
