Hamas promises revenge
2004-03-26 17:31
Jerusalem - A series of first attempts by Palestinian militants to avenge the death of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin failed, but the radical Islamic movement promised on Friday they were only "the beginning".
Israeli soldiers shot dead two heavily-armed Hamas militants overnight who had infiltrated the southern Gaza Strip settlement block of Gush Katif by sea, both sides reported.
The two gunmen wore diving suits and flippers and used the inner tube of a car tire to transport two Kalashnikov assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, four hand-grenades and ammunition.
After reaching the shore, they opened "heavy" fire on the car of a settler, but were killed in a shoot-out with Israeli soldiers manning a look-out post nearby.
Initial reports had said three men were involved and killed, but the army found two bodies when it combed the scene of the shoot-out in the morning, along with the weapons.
"This attack is the beginning of the response to the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin," a leaflet issued by Hamas' armed wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam said.
A third Palestinian militant was killed later on Friday afternoon while preparing a car bomb which exploded prematurely in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. He was a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent arm of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's ruling Fatah party, Palestinian sources reported.
Two Hamas militants armed with guns and disguised in Israeli army uniforms had been killed while trying to attack the southern Gaza Strip settlement of Morag already on Tuesday night, while another attack was foiled that same day when a Palestinian teenager decided at the last minute not to detonate a bomb belt he was wearing at a roadblock near Nablus.
No one claimed responsibility for the near-suicide attack by the boy, but it happened a day after Israeli missiles killed Yassin as he returned from prayers at his local Gaza City mosque early on Monday. Immediately after the death of the 68-year-old spiritual leader, Hamas had promised revenge like "an angry volcano and a piece of hell that will burn the land under the feet of the Zionists". - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA