JERUSALEM – Israeli military aircraft carried out a fifth day of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip today, and Israel’s defense minister suggested that leaders of the radical Palestinian group Hamas might be assassinated if rocket fire into southern Israel do not stop.
Today’s strikes, which included artillery shells for the first time, knocked out power to Gaza City and destroyed a bridge, but no injuries were reported.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz singled out Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyya and Mahmoud Zahar in his Tuesday warning. He said that unless attacks from Gaza cease, Israeli will send the men “to where Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Sheik Yassin are.”
Ahmed Yassin, one of the founding leaders of Hamas, was killed last year by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City. Israel assassinated Rantisi, who succeeded Yassin, less than a month later. Israeli officials have said they would respond to attacks from Gaza far more vigorously after ending Israel’s 38-year presence in the strip earlier this month.
“As long as there is no quiet, the terror groups will know no quiet,” Mofaz said as he visited soldiers along Gaza’s border.
The Israeli military also has rounded up 379 militant activists in the West Bank, including dozens of electoral candidates from Hamas, prompting accusations that Israel is using a weekend truce breach as an excuse to crush the Islamic group before upcoming Palestinian elections.
The arrests, made over three days, are generating sympathy for Hamas and could further improve its strong electoral prospects. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement is widely perceived as corrupt, and many Palestinians say they will vote for Hamas to teach Fatah a lesson and get better government services. Many view Hamas as a much more disciplined organization that could bring order to the chaotic Gaza Strip.
The temporary cease-fire with Israel has been shaken several times since it was signed in March, most recently last week when Israeli forces killed three Islamic Jihad fighters near the West Bank city of Tulkarm and Palestinian groups fired a barrage of homemade rockets into Israel, wounding at least five civilians.
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