Israel bracing for backlash
23/03/2004 10:59  - (SA)  

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'Hamas should be destroyed' Arafat fears he may be next Hamas pledges war

Jerusalem - Israel on Tuesday braced itself for a backlash from Palestinian militants after Hamas spiritual chief Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's assassination.

This was after the government vowed to continue targeting militant leaders.

Army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said Yassin's killing in an early-morning air strike in Gaza City on Monday had delivered a "significant blow" to the Islamic radical movement, responsible for the majority of attacks against Israel since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000.

But he conceded that it could well lead to a short-term flare-up in violence in the region.

"For a short time, it may strengten the motivation to commit attacks but in the long run it will reinforce moderate (Palestinian) elements," Yaalon told a security conference in Tel Aviv.

Retaliation

More than 200 000 people took to the streets during Monday's funeral for the wheelchair-bound cleric, vowing revenge against Israel, while all the main Palestinian armed factions promised a bloody retaliation.

The Israeli army, police and domestic security service all stepped up their level of alert in the wake of the helicopter raid.

But despite the fears of a backlash, Israeli cabinet ministers decided in a meeting on Monday night that assassinations of top Hamas leaders would continue.

"We will do our utmost to face a possible wave of terrorist attacks in the coming weeks," Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz told army radio on Tuesday.

"We have switched from defence to offence and, in this battle, all the members of the Hamas leadership are legitimate targets," interior security minister Tzahi Hanegbi added.

The radio said that security had also been boosted at Israeli embassies around the world, after Hamas declared all-out war against the Jewish state.

The Israeli army completely sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip after Monday's raid, that also killed seven other Palestinians.

Israeli tanks rolled into the north of the Gaza Strip overnight, in a bid to prevent the launching of makeshift rockets on nearby Israeli towns and settlements.

Gaza City resembled a virtual ghost town on Tuesday as Palestinians across the occupied territories observed three days of national mourning.

- AFP

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