22 April 2004 Edition

Resize: A A A Print

Anger as Israel assassinates Hamas leader

Israel's assassination of the Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi on Saturday 17 April by means of a missile attack against his car in Gaza City shows the impunity enjoyed by the regime leaded by Ariel Sharon when it comes to its actions against Palestinian civilians and activists.

Rantissi has been one of Hamas's two leaders since Israel killed Ahmed Yassin, the group's spiritual leader, on 22 March. Rantissi was taken to a hospital with but he died soon afterwards. His son Mohammed and a bodyguard also died, while five pedestrians were wounded.

Israel tried to kill Rantissi last June in a carbon copy attack. On that occasion he and his teenage son were wounded in a helicopter missile strike on his car, also in Gaza City.

Rantissi had refused to go into hiding like many of his comrades on Israel's wanted list He had depicted himself as a Hamas politician with no links to the military wing.

But Israel refused to accept the distinction, accusing him of being a top decision-maker on attacks and of using his media role to incite violence.

Israeli Minister Gideon Ezra named Hamas' political bureau chief, Khalid Mishal, as the next target barely seconds after Dr al-Rantisi's funeral procession got underway and before he was buried on Sunday 18 April. Although Mishal lives in Syria, the Israeli Minister vowed that his "fate will be identical to that of al-Rantisi. When the opportunity comes to strike at Damascus, we will do it."

Rantisi's assassination comes at the end of a week of dramatic developments in the Middle East, with Israeli leader Ariel Sharon returning from Washington with the unexpectedly wholehearted backing from an electioneering President George W Bush for his plans to rewrite the Road Map peace plan with even fewer "concessions" for the Palestinians than before.

Under the new plan, Israel will withdraw its troops from all of Gaza except for the border zone with Egypt, which may be expanded at Israel's will, where the Israeli army bulldozers have demolished more than 600 Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp.

It will also retain full control of the Erez border crossing, the only point at which Palestinians can cross into Israel. Gaza's airspace would remain under Israeli control, and Israel's navy would continue to patrol its coastline.

Israel says it would reserve the right to invade Gaza for security reasons.

The plan, released as Sharon returned from meeting Bush in Washington, states that Israel believes there is no Palestinian partner for negotiations but that it must act to take the country out of its current stagnation.

The Israeli Government has promised to honour commitments that it made to the US last year to freeze building in the West Bank settlements and evacuate 20 illegal outposts within the coming weeks. Most are uninhabited but the largest, Migron, has a population of about 200.

Bush dismayed Palestinians by strongly backing the plan under the excuse that it was agreed by Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams. Palestinians are reeling from Bush's denials of their strongly-held negotiating positions — complete Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, the illegality of settlements and right of return of refugees under UN resolution 194.

Their leaders are indicating that after Bush's support for Sharon's unilateral plan, the US can no longer be held to be an honest broker in any future negotiations.

The plan envisages a Palestinian enclave in the northern West Bank around Jenin, which will be partially enclosed by the security barrier. According to Israeli press reports, Sharon has made it clear that he plans to evacuate a further two settlements, Mevo Dotan and Hermesh, to increase the size of the enclave.

Michael Tarazi, a legal advisor to the PLO, said: "The settlers are being moved. This will allow, in Gaza at least, Palestinians to travel freely and develop businesses. But ultimately this will just create one large open prison. It will bring Gaza up to the status of Ramallah. This is an improvement but it's hardly a cause for celebration."

Critics on the Israeli left were even harsher. A column on the front page of the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, argued that Sharon's disengagement plan was identical to the creation of autonomous black homelands in apartheid-era South Africa.


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland