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Hamas appoints Rantisi's successor, keeps identity secret

Abd al-Aziz Rantisi, who replaced Ahmad Yasin, killed by similar Israeli strike in Gaza . Hamas vows massive revenge. Prisoners riot in Israeli jails
Marwan Atmana and Amir Buhbut

The new Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Abd al-Aziz Rantisi, was killed on Saturday night in an Israeli air strike in Gaza . Missiles were fired at a Subaru sedan in which Rantisi, his driver, and a bodyguard were traveling. All three were killed. Rantisi, seriously injured in the attack, was brought to Shifa Hopsital in Gaza , where he was pronounced dead a short time later. An IDF spokesman confirmed Israeli responsibility, adding that "Rantisi was directly responsible for dozens of terror attacks and for the deaths of Israeli citizens and security personnel".

Hamas announced on Sunday morning that it has appointed a new leader to replace Rantisi, but withheld the new chief’s name -- ostensibly to prevent his meeting the fate and that of Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, who was killed by Israel three weeks ago and replaced by Rantisi.

Contrary to earlier reports, Muhammad Rantisi, the oldest son of the assassinated leader, was not in the car at the time and not injured by missile fire. According to Palestinian sources, Muhammad is now at home with his brother Ahmed, receiving the crowds who have come to pay their respects. Ahmed was partially paralyzed in an earlier, failed attempt on his father's life.

Israeli sources revealed yesterday that on April 8 two IDF helicopters had aborted a planned targeted attack on Rantisi. The aircraft were called back to base for military, not political, reasons.

In response to Rantisi's assassination, spontaneous marches and demonstrations broke out throughout the Gaza Strip and West Bank . Crowds were particularly large in Ramallah, with smaller demonstrations taking place in Jenin, Tul Karem, Nablus , and several refugee camps. Demonstrators called for swift and harsh retaliation by the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, including attacks on high-ranking Israeli officials.

Rioting also broke out in Israeli security prisons in response to news of Rantisi's death. At Ketziot, prisoners set fire to mattresses and tents. They threw rocks at the security towers, and guards fired tear gas in return. Special forces of the military police and the Givati and Nahshon units were called in to help restore order. When the rioting ended, Ketsiot directors held discussions with prisoner leadership.

At Ashmoret, prisoners began pounding on cell doors and shouting political slogans. Eight were sent to solitary confinement and order was restored.

Yasin's successor

Rantisi, a 57-year-old pediatrician, was chosen to head the Hamas movement in Gaza following last month's assassination of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The former head of the Hamas political bureau, Haled Mash'al, was chosen to lead the movement's activities abroad.

Prior to the 1993 Oslo agreement, Rantisi spent several years in Israeli prisons. He was first arrested in 1983 for refusal to pay taxes. In 1988, following the establishment of Hamas, he was incarcerated for 2 ½ years for involvement in hostile activities against Israel . In December 1990, he was put under administrative detainment for a year.

In late 1992, following the kidnap and killing of border guard Nissim Toledano, Rantisi was expelled and sent to southern Lebanon together with 400 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists. Rantisi soon joined other deportees in establishing a camp in Marj Al-Zuhur. When he returned to Israel , Rantisi was arrested, tried before a military court, and sent to prison until 1997. He settled in Gaza after his release and joined the leadership ranks of Hamas. He recently survived two IDF targeted assassination attempts.

Rantisi was killed just a few hours after a suicide bombing at the Erez crossing in which a border policeman, Corporal Kfir Ohayun, was killed. Two policemen and a security guard were injured in the bombing, for which Hamas and Fatah claimed joint responsibility.

(2004-04-18 09:52:35.0)

Posted on Sun, Apr. 18, 2004

Hamas pledges revenge for assassination

By LARA SUKHTIAN
Associated Press

GAZA CITY , Gaza Strip - Hamas threatened "100 unique reprisals" against Israel for killing its leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, as hundreds of thousands of mourners flooded the streets Sunday in a show of strength and fury.

It wasn't clear if the Islamic militant group was strong enough to carry out large-scale attacks after a sustained two-year Israeli campaign against it. Despite promises of revenge, Hamas still has not struck in the three weeks since Israel assassinated Rantisi's predecessor, Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Hamas chose a replacement for Rantisi on Sunday, but did not disclose his name - a clear sign at least that the group is on the defensive in the face of Israeli attacks ahead of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Sharon on Sunday picked up the support of key Cabinet ministers for his unilateral disengagement plan, including the Gaza withdrawal, assuring him of a Cabinet majority ahead of a hard-fought referendum among the 200,000 members of his Likud Party.

Sharon told the Cabinet on Sunday that he would forge ahead with his plan and continue to "hit the terror organizations and their leaders."

Cabinet minister Gideon Ezra said the overall Hamas leader, Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal, was also a target. Rantisi was in charge of the Palestinian areas and reported to Mashaal.

The killing of Rantisi set off demonstrations - some of them violent - across Gaza and the West Bank , as well as in Arab countries.

In the West Bank , Israeli troops shot and critically wounded a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in a clash between stone throwers and soldiers. Late Sunday, police shot and wounded two Israeli Arabs in Israel 's northern Galilee region. The police commander said the Arabs opened fire on a border police patrol.

The military reported dozens of minor incidents through the day, most involving Palestinians throwing rocks and firebombs.

In another development, a 24-year-old Palestinian died Sunday of wounds received in clashes during a demonstration against the security barrier Israel is building, hospital officials said. The Israeli military denied it fired live ammunition.

Israel rebuffed international criticism, including by several European countries. It said Rantisi - like Yassin - was targeted because he directed bloody Hamas attacks against Israelis and was planning more.

However, many Palestinians held the United States responsible for Rantisi's death, saying it is giving Israel free rein.

"The Palestinian government considers this Israeli terrorist campaign to be a direct result of American encouragement and the total American bias in favor of the Israeli government," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, echoing a widely held sentiment in the West Bank and Gaza .

Palestinian officials are furious with President Bush for sidelining them, endorsing Sharon 's unilateral plan and backing Israel 's demand to hang on to parts of the West Bank .

Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, denied that Bush gave Sharon the go-ahead for the Rantisi killing during their White House meeting last week. She told ABC TV that Israel has the right to defend itself, but that it is "extremely important that Israel take into consideration the consequences of anything that it does."

Mashaal said Sunday that the killing of Rantisi only strengthened his group and boosted support for it. However, a local leader in Gaza , Ismail Hanieh, acknowledged Hamas suffered a momentary setback.

Palestinian officials said they are worried the next target for assassination will be Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom Israel accuses of fomenting terror. The Israeli Cabinet voted last year to "remove" Arafat.

In Sunday's funeral, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians thronged the streets of Gaza City . In addition to Rantisi, two bodyguards were killed when two missiles struck the car they were traveling in.

Hamas supporters chanted "God is great" and "revenge, revenge" and threw flowers at the three bodies as they passed in a procession. They touched Rantisi's exposed face, which was covered with shrapnel wounds.

About 200 armed Hamas militants lined the sides of the road and saluted the bodies as they approached a large blue and green mourning tent set up outside Rantisi's house. Armed men fired into the air and many in the gathered crowd raised their fists in anger.

Hamas posted a statement on its Web site pledging "100 unique reprisals" against Israel . It said it declared a state of emergency in the West Bank and Gaza until revenge was complete.

Hamas leaders have threatened to target Israeli leaders, who are heavily guarded and travel in reinforced vehicles with bodyguards and convoys.

Why Hamas hasn't done so yet still is not clear. Israel 's campaign against it may have left it weakened, though Israeli terrorism expert Reuven Paz said the killing of Yassin and Rantisi did not reduce the Hamas' ability to carry out attacks. He noted that militant groups are increasingly cooperating for greater effectiveness.

Israel also says its security forces have foiled a dozen planned attacks, and a security fence around Gaza has stopped most infiltrations. In one exception, two Palestinians from Gaza hid in a false compartment of a shipping container, made their way to Israel 's Ashdod port March 14 and blew themselves up, killing 10 Israelis. That bombing set off the Israeli campaign against the Hamas leadership.

Analysts warn that sooner or later, more Hamas bombers will elude the checks. In more than three years of violence, Hamas has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel , killing hundreds.

Hamas has mounted dozens of attacks from the West Bank , but recently the Israeli military claimed it rounded up the entire local Hamas leadership in Nablus , the West Bank 's largest city.

Political maneuvering might hold back Hamas. It is in sensitive talks with the Palestinian Authority over possible power-sharing in Gaza after an Israeli withdrawal.

Sharon cleared another obstacle Sunday in getting his unilateral plan approved by his Likud Party, which is to vote on it in a May 2 referendum. Polls show a slim majority in favor of the plan.

Two key Israeli Cabinet ministers, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Limor Livnat, decided Sunday to back the plan, giving Sharon a Cabinet majority and the support of influential Likud members.

Palestinians: Anti-barrier protestor seriously injured by sniper fire

Demonstrator injured at hotspot of clashes – Bidu. Wave of demonstrations sweep Judea and Samaria after Rantisi hit.
Uri Glikman and Marwan Atamna

A wave of demonstrations swept Judea and Samaria today in the wake of Saturday’s assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Rantisi

Palestinians reported that a 19-year-old youth was seriously wounded in the chest after being hit by sniper fire during a confrontation over the security barrier being constructed near the village of Bidu . He was rushed to the Mukasad Hospital in Ramallah.

The Palestinians claim that the youth was hit by sniper fire. They also said that a 14-year-old was hit in the eye by a rubber-coated bullet. During the clash, two people were reportedly arrested – a Palestinian and an activist from abroad.

IDF sources said that riot control measures were taken to disperse about 600 residents who gathered to demonstrate at Bidu. On the question of the shooting, the IDF sources said that this was being investigated.

Elsewhere, at Dir Abu-mishal, near the settlement of Kiryat Sefer, a Palestinian sustained medium to serious injuries, according to an IDF report. Palestinian sources said he suffered a critical head wound.

Taking part in the demonstrations were apparently a group of children, the youngest - a 13-year-old. They marched towards an IDF barrier set up at the entrance to the village of Dir Abu-Mishal .

In another incident reported at the Kiryat-Sefer area, an Israeli woman was lightly injured by stone-throwers.

Disturbances also took place at Kalandia, near Ramallah, and there too the army used riot dispersal tactics. At the Ayosh junction, some ten youths gathered to throw stones, while at Vered Yericho, east of Jerusalem , about 80 young Palestinians were reported to have been involved in a stone throwing.

(2004-04-18 18:59:15.0)

CBC News, Canada - Apr 18, 2004

Hamas secretly appoints new leader as Abdel Aziz Rantisi is buried
12:55 PM EDT Apr 22

A Palestinian boy cries outside the house of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi during his funeral, Sunday. (AP/Hatem Moussa)

IBRAHIM BARZAK  

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hamas secretly appointed a new Gaza Strip chief early Sunday but refused to reveal his identity following Israel's assassination of two previous Hamas leaders in less than a month.

Israel assassinated Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi in a missile strike on his car Saturday, part of its declared campaign to wipe out the Islamic militant group's leadership ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Two of Rantisi's bodyguards were also killed.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners thronged the streets of Gaza City , chanting "revenge, revenge" and throwing flowers at the men's bodies as they were carried through the streets in a funeral procession.

Hamas posted a statement on its Web site pledging "100 retaliations" that will shake Israel . It said it had declared a state of emergency in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until revenge was complete.

"Yesterday they said that they killed Rantisi to weaken Hamas. They are dreaming," Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, told more than 70,000 mourners gathered at the city's largest mosque for the funeral.

"Every time a martyr falls, Hamas is strengthened. Hamas might have a crisis at hand after losing its leaders, but it will not be defeated."

Palestinian officials also worried that Israel would next target Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom Israel accuses of fomenting terror. The Israeli cabinet voted last year to "remove" Arafat.

Palestinians demonstrated Sunday throughout the Gaza Strip and West Bank in anger over Rantisi's killing.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah , Israeli soldiers shot a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in the head during a riot against the killing. He was in critical condition, hospital officials said. The army said soldiers were putting down a large riot but did not shoot live ammunition.

In Bethlehem , a teen throwing bottles at soldiers was shot in the stomach and wounded. The army said it believed he had been throwing a firebomb.

During the Gaza funeral procession, about 200 armed Hamas militants lined both sides of the road and saluted the bodies as they approached a large blue and green mourning tent set up outside Rantisi's house. Armed members of rival militant groups fired volley after volley of gunfire in the air.

Green Hamas flags and black mourning flags hung from nearby homes.

The graveyard was jammed with people and onlookers gathered on nearby rooftops as Rantisi was buried just a few graves away from Sheik Ahmed Yassin, Hamas' founder, who was killed by Israel on March 22.

The group's Damascus-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, instructed the group to keep the name of its new Gaza leader secret. Army Radio reported the new leader was Mahmoud Zahar, who had been Rantisi's second in command.

"We are committed to the policy of resistance and we cannot be swayed," Zahar told The Associated Press. "Hamas cannot be defeated. Hamas cannot be broken."

Israel has targeted Hamas and its leaders in advance of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposed withdrawal from all of the Gaza Strip and a few West Bank settlements.

Sharon vowed to continue hunting down Hamas leaders.

"This policy of making an effort on the one hand to advance a political process and on the other hand to hit the terror organizations and their leaders will continue," Sharon said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.

Sharon returned from Washington on Friday with strong U.S. backing for his plan, as well as unprecedented U.S. support for Israel to hold on to parts of the West Bank under a final peace deal.

Sharon has called for a May 2 referendum on his plan in his hardline Likud Party, and polls show the proposal garnering a slim majority of the party's 200,000 voters.

Two key Israeli cabinet ministers, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Limor Livnat, decided Sunday to back the plan, giving Sharon a cabinet majority and the support of influential Likud members.

Vice-Premier Ehud Olmert denied there was a connection between the referendum and Rantisi's assassination. But the killing underscored Israel 's commitment to continue fighting terrorism and hunting down militant leaders even after a pullout, he said.

The Bush administration declined to criticize Rantisi's killing, saying instead that Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorist attacks and urging Palestinians to use restraint in responding.

"The United States strongly urges Israel to consider carefully the consequences of its actions," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned Israel 's policy of targeted killings as "unlawful, unjustified and counterproductive."

And Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham issued a statement Saturday saying: "The government of Canada condemns today's attacks, which can only impede progress toward a peaceful solution to the complex conflict in the Middle East ."

Arab officials and Muslim leaders called the assassination "state terrorism" that proved Israel was intent on sabotaging peace hopes and suggested American support for such killings, an accusation Israel and the United States denied.

Israeli security forces went on high alert after Rantisi was killed, fearing reprisal bombings. Arafat condemned the killing as a "brutal assassination."

Stores and schools were closed in Gaza . In the West Bank , the Palestinian Authority instructed schools to devote the first half-hour of lessons to Qur'an readings in a sign of mourning. Flags were flown at half mast at Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.

In the city of Nablus , crowds hung effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President George W. Bush, shot them and then burned them as they chanted "revenge, revenge."

Rantisi's car was hit by two missiles Saturday evening about a block from his house in the Sheik Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City .

Israeli officials accused Rantisi of planning a large attack on Israel to solidify his leadership and retaliate for Yassin's killing. Hamas is responsible for most of the 112 suicide bombings that have killed 465 people on the Israeli side during 3½ years of violence.

Also Sunday, the Israeli army killed a Palestinian armed with a rifle who tried to infiltrate a Jewish settlement in Gaza . Hospital officials identified the man as Nael Mohammad Omar, a 22-year-old Islamic Jihad member.

© The Canadian Press, 2004

Ouest-France 19 avril 2004

Etranger  

Après le cheikh Yassine, l'armée israélienne liquide Abdelaziz al-Rantisssi

Funérailles nationales pour le chef du Hamas

200 000 Gazaoui ont enterré, hier, Abdelaziz al-Rantissi. Plus de 60 000 Palestiniens ont défilé contre Israël au Liban. Manifestations, également, au Caire. AFP

Une énorme foule a enterré Abdelaziz al-Rantissi, chef du Hamas palestinien tué samedi soir à Gaza par des hélicoptères israéliens. Le mouvement intégriste lui a désigné un successeur, dont le nom reste secret. Hormis l'Amérique, le monde entier condamne cet assassinat.

Plus de 200 000 Palestiniens ont porté Abdelaziz al-Rantissi en terre, hier, dans le « carré des martyrs » du cimetière de Gaza. Ce pédiatre mort à 56 ans repose auprès du cheikh Ahmed Yassine, le fondateur du Hamas liquidé par Israël le 22 mars dernier. La dépouille lacérée d'éclats de missiles du Dr Rantissi, a été portée à bout de bras dans les principales artères la ville, tandis que des militants encagoulés du Hamas tiraient en l'air. Des émeutes ont secoué plusieurs villes de Cisjordanie lors des funérailles. Un Palestinien a été tué et neuf autres blessés par des soldats israéliens.

Les brigades Ezzedine al-Qassam, bras armé de l'organisation intégriste, ont promis des « représailles au centuple ». Elles avaient brandi la même menace après la mort du cheikh Yassine, sans pouvoir, apparemment, la mettre à exécution. Mahmoud al-Zahar, l'un des cadres du Hamas, a cependant assuré hier : « La riposte sera d'envergure. Elle va venir. »

Un nouveau chef clandestin

Ce médecin de 59 ans pourrait bien être le successeur d'Abdelaziz al-Rantissi. Le Hamas a désigné son nouveau chef, sans dévoiler son identité, pour ne pas signer son arrêt de mort. Un autre nom est avancé, celui d'Ismaïl Haniyé, le secrétaire du cheikh Yassine.

Ariel Sharon, a félicité l'armée hier, lors du Conseil des ministres pour la liquidation du « cerveau du terrorisme aux mains couvertes de sang ». Le chef du gouvernement israélien, qui a annoncé le démantèlement des colonies juives de Gaza d'ici la mi-2005, ne veut en aucun cas paraître céder devant les attentats. « Cette politique, a-t-il dit, vise d'un côté à progresser dans le processus diplomatique et, de l'autre, à frapper les organisations terroristes et ceux qui les dirigent. »

Cette fermeté lui vaut des ralliements : le ministre des Finances, Benyamin Netanyahu, et celle de l'Éducation, Limor Livnat, ont apporté leur soutien à son plan d'évacuation de Gaza et, à plus long terme, de Cisjordanie. Ariel Sharon paraît désormais assuré de gagner le référendum interne auquel seront conviés, le 2 mai, les 200 000 militants du Likoud (droite).

Washington accusé

Pour ce qui est des progrès diplomatiques, c'est évidemment raté. Le Premier ministre Ahmad Qoreï a fustigé le « crime » d'Israël et accusé George Bush : « Malheureusement, les Israéliens ont le sentiment d'avoir l'appui des Etats-Unis. » Recevant Ariel Sharon à la Maison Blanche , la semaine dernière, le président américain avait apporté un soutien entier au plan de « retrait » d'Ariel Sharon... qui annexe d'importants blocs de colonies en Cisjordanie.

Washington a démenti, hier, avoir « eu connaissance à l'avance » de l'élimination du chef du Hamas. La Maison Blanche s'est abstenue de critiquer cet assassinat, contrairement aux Européens, à la Russie , à Jean-Paul II et à Kofi Annan, le secrétaire général de l'Onu.

Copyright (c) 2004 The Daily Star

Monday, April 19, 2004

Thousands protest Israel's killing of Rantissi

Demonstrators call for jihad

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

CAIRO : Tens of thousands of Palestinians and their Arab sympathizers took to the streets across the Middle East on Sunday in angry demonstrations against Israel 's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz Rantissi.

Refugee camps in Jordan exploded in protest after Rantissi's death Saturday in an Israeli missile strike, the second major hit against Hamas after the extremist movement's spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was killed last month.

Gunfire ripped through the air for 20 minutes in Ain al-Helweh Palestinian camp, the largest in Lebanon , overnight Saturday as thousands of protesters chanted: "Vengeance" in the wake of Rantissi's murder.

As 200,000 people poured onto the streets of Gaza City for Rantissi's funeral, another 10,000 Palestinians rallied in their camps in Jordan , and Palestinians and Lebanese joined in a protest in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre .

Some 5,000 people demonstrated throughout the night in the Bekaa camp in Jordan , where schools were closed and shops were shuttered as a sign of mourning. Black flags and pictures of the slain Hamas leader were everywhere, and children tied black ribbons to the wheels of their bicycles.

In the Wihdat camp to the east of Amman , residents swore Rantissi's death would not prevent them from returning to Jerusalem one day.

"To Jerusalem we will return, martyrs by the millions" chanted one crowd in Bekaa, while another proclaimed: "We are all combatants."

Around 400 student protesters also gathered at the University of Jordan in Amman , while Jordan 's Muslim Brotherhood and key opposition party, the Islamic Action Front, called for a demonstration.

In Cairo , thousands of students denounced Israel and the United States in protests at several university campuses after Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher described the assassination as an "Israeli crime."

Over 3,000 students, including veiled young women, shouted: "Victory or martyrdom," and "The blood of the martyr will not be traded" as they rallied at the An Chams University in the Egyptian capital.

Israeli and American flags were burned and donations were collected to help the Palestinian cause.

At the prestigious Al-Azhar University hundreds of students called for jihad against Israel , while at the University of Alexandria protesters held a symbolic funeral for Rantissi and collected names of would-be suicide bombers.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the Syrian capital Damascus , shouting slogans against Israel and its main ally, the United States .

People took the streets in the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk to the south of Damascus , where Palestinian flags were flown alongside the standards of militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"Rest Rantissi, we will carry the fight," chanted the protesters, many of whom displayed photographs of Rantissi and Yassin, who was killed in an Israeli missile strike while exiting a mosque in Gaza City on March 22.

About 200 Kuwaiti students shouted slogans against Israel as well as US President George W. Bush and Arab leaders.

Calling him the "martyr of the Muslim nation," the mostly Islamist students and speakers urged Arab countries to stop the peace process with Israel and turn instead to jihad.

Several hundred Tunisians also protested in an unauthorised demonstration at Sfax, 300 kilometres south of Tunis , organizers said.

But another rally planned by human rights defenders at Monastir in the center of the country was banned by the authorities and prevented by the police, a local official said.

Copyright (c) 2004 The Daily Star

Thursday, April 22, 2004 

Hamas appoints new leader secretly

* Vows ‘100 unique retaliations’
* Israel will continue to target ‘terrorist leaders’: Sharon

GAZA CITY: Hamas secretly appointed a new Gaza Strip chief early on Sunday, but refused to reveal his identity after Israel assassinated two Hamas leaders in less than a month.

Hamas posted a statement on its Web site pledging “100 unique retaliations” that will shake Israel . It said it had declared a state of emergency in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until revenge was complete.

Palestinians demonstrated on Sunday throughout the Gaza Strip and West Bank calling for attacks to retaliate for the assassination. In the West Bank city of Ramallah , Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in a riot against the killing, hospital officials said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians thronged the streets of Gaza City on Sunday in Rantissi’s funeral procession.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed on Sunday that the policy of targeting “the leaders of terrorist organisations” would continue after the assassination of Rantissi.

The killing of Rantissi late on Saturday sparked a chorus of international criticism, except from the US , which branded Hamas “a terrorist organisation”, adding that Israel “has the right to defend itself”. The UN, China , Japan , Australia and Russia condemned Israel ’s renewed use of “targeted killing” while France and Germany said the EU also viewed such murders as a violation of international law.

Israeli cabinet minister Gideon Ezra said on Sunday Hamas’ Damascus-based political bureau chief Khalid Meshaal would meet “an identical” fate to the movement’s assassinated leader in the Palestinian territories, military radio reported. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also said on Sunday no terrorist could feel safe from authorities after Israel ’s assassination of Rantissi. The US denied giving Israel the green light to go after Rantissi but refrained from condemning the assassination.

In Gaza , troops killed a Palestinian gunman near a Jewish settlement, thwarting an attempted attack, the army said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei wrote to world leaders on Sunday urging them to convene a conference to restart Middle East peace talks and offset what he called US concessions to Israel .

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine called on Sunday for open war on Israel , the US and their Arab allies to avenge the Jewish state’s assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi.

The US on Sunday warned Americans in Jordan to stay away from demonstrations protesting Israel ’s assassination of Rantissi, noting widespread suspicion that US officials had signed off on the slaying.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday opened ceremonies commemorating the Nazi genocide of the Jews by saying Israel was aware of hatred against it and would strike would-be murderers. “We will never allow the murderers of today, nor those of tomorrow to harm our people. Whoever dares will be struck,” Sharon said at the Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem. —Agencies