Israel shuts out Palestinians

2003-09-07 17:00

Jerusalem - Israel ordered a full closure of the West Bank and Gaza, forbidding any Palestinians from entering Israel, CNN reported on Sunday.

This comes after the spiritual leader of Hamas threatened to continue the group's jihad against the Jewish state.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's threat followed Israel's failed attempt on his life on Saturday in Gaza. He narrowly escaped with a minor injury to his hand, when an Israeli missile struck the building where he and other Hamas leaders were meeting. p> "Jihad will continue and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs," said Yassin, who surfaced in a Gaza City mosque after the strike.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the August 19 bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed at least 21 people. Their action was in retaliation for the deaths of Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives, killed by Israeli forces, they said.

Ra'anan Gissin, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told CNN Radio on Sunday that Israel would continue military actions against militants responsible for terror attacks.

"There's no sanctuary to any one of them as long as they continue to engage in terror activity and as long as they continue to send suicide bombers and fire rockets at Israel," Gissin said, referring to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

- News24