Ain-Al-Yaqeen - April 23, 2004

		April 23, 2004

A UNANIMOUS ARAB CONDEMNATION OF THE KILLING OF AL-RANTISSI AND A CALL FOR CONVENING THE ARAB SUMMIT.
THE WORLD CONDEMNS THE KILLING.
ISRAEL THREATENS TO CARRY OUT MORE KILLINGS AGAINST THE PALESTINIANS.
EUROPE CONDEMNS AND URGES TO FIND A WAY TO REVIVE THE PEACE PROCESS.

Israel murdered new Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi. A US Apache helicopter fired two missiles as Al-Rantissi rode in his car in Gaza City's Labidid Street late in the evening.

Al-Rantissi's assassination came a month after an Israeli missile attack killed Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Al-Rantissi was taken to hospital in critical condition, his body riddled with wounds and blood streaming from his head and neck, and rushed into emergency surgery. But he died five minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Five pedestrians were also wounded in the attack, hospital officials said.

Israel expressed delight at the Hamas leader's assassination. "We cannot fail to be pleased with this operation for it is necessary to continue to eliminate the terrorists as we did with Yassin," Cabinet Minister Uzi Landau told Israeli commercial television.

The minister for immigration absorption, Tzipi Livni, said Al-Rantissi's assassination is "important to make people understand that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza as part of the prime minister's disengagement plan cannot be interpreted as a victory for the terrorists."

The killings came days after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received the enthusiastic endorsement of US President George W. Bush for his disengagement plan.

The Palestinian government immediately condemned the killings and warned that the Israelis must bear full responsibility for the consequences.

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiation minister, said Israel must bear full responsibility for the consequences of its "ugly crime". "We condemn this ugly crime strongly and this state terrorism which the Israeli government has chosen to pursue with the assassination of Dr. Al-Rantissi," Erekat said.

Ismail Haniya, a possible contender to replace Al-Rantissi, vowed that the 56-year-old's blood "will not flow in vain."

As news emerged of the strike, thousands of Hamas supporters descended on the hospital. About 2,000 angry Palestinians marched through the streets carrying pieces of Al-Rantissi's car shouting, "revenge, revenge."

Israel had previously tried to kill Al-Rantissi on June 10 when three Apache helicopters fired at least seven missiles at Al-Rantissi's car in a crowded Gaza thoroughfare, reducing his vehicle to a scorched heap of metal. Al-Rantissi escaped with a wound to the right leg. Two Palestinian bystanders were killed.

Al-Rantissi was the only Hamas leader who refused to go underground after the assassination of Yassin. He was born near the coastal city of Ashkelon and fled to the Gaza Strip with his family and thousands of other Arabs displaced during the war that led to the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.

Co-founder of Hamas with Sheikh Yassin in 1987, Al-Rantissi was named the group's leader in Gaza after Israel's killing of Yassin on March 22.

An Egyptian-trained pediatrician, Al-Rantissi long acted as Hamas spokesman before succeeding Yassin. Camera crews trooped to his Gaza living room to hear him issue vows of revenge, often in calm, even tones, for Israel's killing of Hamas activists.

Jailed off and on for years by Israel, Al-Rantissi was among 415 men associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad expelled to southern Lebanon in 1992 after a wave of attacks on Israelis. Facing international pressure, Israel allowed them to return.

Hours before Al-Rantissi's murder, a Palestinian blew himself up at the Erez Crossing, killing an Israeli soldier and injuring three other soldiers. Witnesses later saw Israeli troops shooting indiscriminately at Palestinian houses.

Tens of thousands of mourners in Gaza cried out last Sunday to avenge the assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi by Israel ahead of its planned US-backed pullout from the region.

The Hamas military wing pledged 100 retaliations for Al-Rantissi, the 56-year-old who was the second Hamas leader Israel killed in Gaza in less than a month. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin died in a missile attack on March 22.

The Hamas warning came as condemnation of the killing poured in from all over the world barring the United States, which said Israel has the right to defend itself.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the army for the helicopter strike on Al-Rantissi, the Palestinian group's political leader in Gaza, and pledged the Jewish state would continue to fight terror.

Sharon told his Cabinet the assassination was part of a dual strategy to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza - home to 1.3 million Palestinians and occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war while striking at resistance fighters.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has praised Israel's armed forces for assassinating Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantissi, Army Radio said.

In the first reported response from Sharon to the helicopter strike, the prime minister was also quoted as saying that he would push ahead with a plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip.

"He sent his congratulations for the successful operation and assassination of Al-Rantissi and said that the policy of disengagement on the one hand and fighting terrorism on the other will continue," the radio said.

Israel has stepped up assassinations of Hamas leaders ahead of Sharon's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip, which won the US backing.

The Associated Press reported Sharon as saying Israel would continue killing Hamas leaders in advance of its proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

"This policy of making an effort on the one hand to advance a political process and on the other hand to hit the terror organisations and their leaders will continue," Sharon said before the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Israeli officials said they were targeting Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal as part of their campaign against the Islamic militant group.

Cabinet Minister Gideon Ezra said the fate of Mashaal, the Damascus-based overall head of Hamas, "is the fate of Al-Rantissi".

"The minute we have the operational opportunity we will do this," Ezra said.

Israel has accused Mashaal of masterminding suicide bombings.

Al-Rantissi's body was carried aloft on a stretcher draped in a green Hamas flag, his face left uncovered to reveal the red lacerations of shrapnel. Weeping mourners reached out their hands to try to touch his body.

The blood of Yassin and Al-Rantissi will not be wasted. Their blood will force the eruption of new volcanoes, rose the call of one fighter. Thousands took up the refrain of revenge.

Al-Rantissi, the Egyptian-trained pediatrician, was outspoken in his fight for justice for the Palestinians. Israel branded him a mastermind of terrorism. He died when two missiles slammed into his car hours after a suicide bomber killed an Israeli soldier at northern Gaza's Erez Crossing.

Hamas armed wing vowed 100 retaliations that will shake the criminal entity.

Faced with an Israeli threat to wipe out all Hamas leaders, the movement said it had named Al-Rantissi successor but would keep his identity secret. Palestinian sources speculated the new leader was either Mahmoud Al-Zahar or Ismail Haniyah.

Al-Rantissi's assassination stoked Palestinian anger already high over US President George W. Bush s statement this week that Israel could retain land Palestinians want for a state in any peace deal. It is no doubt a crime, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said. Unfortunately the Israelis feel they are supported by the United States administration.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has condemned the policy of assassinations and escalations in the occupied Palestinian territories which are being carried out by the Israeli Government.

Addressing a meeting of the UN's Security Council, the Kingdom's permanent representative at the United Nations Fawzi Shobokshi urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards Israel's terrorism and aggressive policy.

The meeting was convened to discuss the issue of the assassination of Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, the Leader of Hamas, by Israel.

'After one month of the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Israel repeated its policy of killings and destruction by assassinating Dr Al-Rantissi', he said adding that three Palestinians were victims of this unjustifiable Israeli act'.

'Why does the Security Council remain incapable of denouncing the Israeli terrorism and taking a decision in line with the principle of justice and equality among various nations of the world', he inquired.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa accused Israel of state terrorism. The irresponsible policy of Israel has led to an escalating spiral of violence, Moussa said.

Egypt condemned Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdul-Aziz Al-Rantissi as a crime which would escalate the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

At a residence for students at Cairo's Al-Azhar University, thousands of students demonstrated on Saturday evening, condemning what they called the silence of the Arab and Islamic world in the face of Israel's assassinations policy.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said in a statement: "Egypt strongly condemns the new crime Israel has committed."

"This assassination raises questions about the reality of its (Israel's) aims and confirms that it exploits opportunities to try to deceive the world, kill off the chances for peace (and) push the region to the edge of the abyss," he added.

He noted that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said that assassinations "will lead only to further expansion of the cycle of violence and will not achieve security and peace".

He said President Hosni Mubarak has repeatedly warned against the political consequences of killing and assassinations which are carried out by Israel.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr. Mohamed Sayed Tantawi strongly condemned the assassination by Israeli occupation forces of Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, leader of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.

Dr. Tantawi described the incident as "an extreme act of aggression." Dr. Al-Rantissi did his duty for his country and for Islam in the noblest way," Dr. Tantawi said, asking for forgiveness for the assassinated leader of Hamas, who took over the post after Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, one of the founders and spiritual leader of the movement, who was killed by the Israelis on March 21.

"The followers of Dr. Al-Rantissi are the ones who will win the battle against Israeli occupation because they have the right to fight for the liberation of their lands and the lands of Islam," the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar said.

Meanwhile, the People's Assembly denounced the killing of Dr. Al-Rantissi.

President Emile Lahoud condemned the "crime," saying that Israel "has been encouraged by Washington to ban Palestinians from returning to their homes and is now killing the rest of them in their homeland."

In a statement, Lahoud said slogans of fighting terrorism that are used to commit such crimes with the support of similar international policies "pushed the world to the verge of explosion and such policy will only increase determination to resist until the end of occupation."

Lahoud urged Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to set a day named "Arab Anger Day" in the region in order to prompt Israel to "reconsider its calculations once and for all."

Prime Minister Rafic Hariri condemned Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi as an aggressive crime that aims at inflaming the cycle of violence, and preventing any political settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Mr. Hariri, who was in Paris and earlier met French President Jacques Chirac, said the assassination of Dr. Al-Rantissi and two of his bodyguards in Gaza City reflected Israel's disregard to political, moral, human, and legal norms.

The Prime Minister said Israel has been seeking to botch initiatives that could end its occupation of Arab land and the suffering of Palestinians. He stressed that Israel's targeted killings of Palestinian leaders amounted to a clear declaration of its intention to kill all hopes of a political solution to the conflict, and to exploit every opportunity to "drown Arab rights in a blood bath." Mr. Hariri urged the international community to apply pressure on Israel to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region, based on international legitimacy, instead of the "logic of blood."

Syrian information source said the assassination of Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi by rockets of the Israeli aggression constitutes the most obvious form of Israel's tendency of state terrorism which has become a daily exercise against the People of Palestine.

The source added that Israel's acts of killings and destruction inside the occupied Palestinian lands reflect its U.S.-backed and protected hostile and settlement policy.

"We condemn this criminal act and view it as a flagrant violation of the international laws it is terrorism perpetrated by the occupier state against the people of Palestine who are suffering under the occupation."

"Syria has always reiterated importance of the Arab solidarity and the unity of Arab stance in deterring Israel and drawing the attention of the international community to the necessity of implementation of the international law. We underline necessity of condemning the policy of terrorism practiced by Israel against the Palestinian people in their occupied lands, as this obstructs the peace process and foments forms of conflict in the region," the sources said.

The sources said Syria stresses necessity of commitment to the international resolutions on the peace process in the region, particularly the resolutions 242 and 338 and the land-for-peace principle to liberate the land and enable the Palestinian people establish their own independent state on their land in line with the June 4th 1967 line.

Yemen blasted the killing as "state terrorism" and said Sharon should be tried as a "war criminal".

"This state terrorism ... will only reinforce the Palestinian people's resistance," said an official statement published in Sanaa.

Morocco firmly condemned the coward assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, and two of his companions, saying this act will help escalate tension and violence in the Middle East region.

In a press release, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation said that following this coward aggression perpetrated by the Israeli Army in assassinating Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi and his companions, Morocco reiterates its firm condemnation and denounces with vigor this kind of acts banished by all celestial religions and international conventions.

This assassination is likely to worsen the situation and engender escalation of violence and reciprocal violence qui undermines all chances of peace, security and stability, the press release said.

Morocco, it went on, urges the International Community to shoulder all its responsibilities following this dangerous escalation and to step up efforts to put an end to this drift which threatens security and stability in the whole region., the Ministry concluded.

Meanwhile Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) has deplored the assassination of Hamas Leader Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi by Israel.

MWL's Secretary General Dr Abdullah Al-Turki, in a statement released, expressed sorrow and grief over the vicious crime committed by the Israeli authorities, and said the crime 'constitutes a flagrant violation to the international agreements, laws and norms'.

Dr Al-Turki warned against the dangerous repercussions of the crime which came a month after the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the Founder of Hamas Organization.

He urged the human rights organizations in the world and the UN to exert all possible efforts for the protection of the Palestinians who have been facing the Israeli brutality, savageness and terrorism.

'The peace-loving nations are requested to take the required measures for deterring Israel and putting an end to its continuous aggression against the Palestinian people', added the statement issued by Dr Al-Turki.

Also the Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has condemned the assassination of Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, the Leader of Hamas Organization, and two of his bodyguards by Israel.

'Israel should be held responsible of the serious consequences of this vicious crime', said the statement released by the OIC's Secretary General Dr Abdel-Wahid Belgaziz.

The statement urged the UN's Security Council to shoulder its responsibility, and to take the appropriate measures for the protection of the Palestinian people.

It underlined the importance of extending all possible support to the Palestinians who have been struggling for regaining their legitimate rights including their right to return to their homeland and establish their independent state.

The Shoura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strongly denounced the assassination of Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi in Gaza last Saturday.

In a statement read at the Shoura Council's 82nd meeting in Riyadh by its Chairman Sheikh Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid, the council regrets the perpetrated killing and destruction committed by the Israeli government in the Palestinian territories.

Condemning the criminal act of the Israeli government, Ibn Homaid categorically rejected all excuses and claims by Israel that this kind of killing is considered an act of self defense. The Shoura Council confirmed that it is a flagrant terrorist act running contrary to all international norms, laws and treaties.

He called on the world community to stand against the Israeli war machine designed to devastate the Palestinians.

He sent condolences to the family of Al-Rantissi, the Palestinian people and Arab and Islamic peoples.

The European Union condemned Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Mohammed Al Al-Rantissi as "unlawful", with senior officials warning the killing would trigger more violence and extremism in the region, reports said.

"The EU position is clear; extra-judicial killings are contrary to international law. They are unjustified," Irish Foreign Minister and current EU spokesman Brian Cowen told reporters.

"We must end this seemingly endless cycle of retaliatory violence involving Palestinian groups and the Israeli defense forces," Cowen said.

European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten condemned Israel's assassination of Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, the leader of the Islamic Resistance Hamas in Gaza.

"We also believe targeted assassinations are illegal. They are against international law and against any conception of law", Patten said.

Israeli actions were also counterproductive, Patten warned.

"It is not a way of promoting peace. It increases extremism, hatred and intolerance," he said.

Spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry Herve Ladsous said France repeatedly affirms that assassinations violate international law and are considered unacceptable.

He added that each country in the region was entitled to offer protection for their citizens but not at the expense of the law.

Ladsous said peace would never be realized through the use of violence but rather through consultations.

China said it "strongly condemns" the assassination by Israel of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi.

A foreign ministry spokesman quoted by the official Xinhua news agency said that Beijing "greatly worries about possible escalation" of tension between the Palestinians and Israel.

The Russian leadership was "deeply worried" at what could happen in the Middle East following the assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

While Israel had the right to defend itself, this had to happen within the confines of international law, he said.

Moscow would continue to seek a solution to the Middle East conflict along with its partners in the so-called Quartet - the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

Pakistan condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi as "arbitrary and extra-judicial killings". "Such arbitrary and extra-judicial killings contravene international law and are a bane of the efforts aimed at fostering peace and security in the Middle East, with the ultimate objective of creating a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian state," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said in a statement.

He urged the international community to "intercede to staunch the cycle of violence destabilizing the region and to bring the peace process back on track".

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the killing could lead to more violence in the Middle East.

The United States denied giving Israel the green light to go after Al-Rantissi but refrained from condemning the assassination.

Japan termed Al-Rantissi's murder as thoughtless , saying it was worried such acts could cause a surge in violence. The killing ... was a thoughtless and unjustifiable act, giving no consideration of its consequences, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said in a statement.

South Africa denounced the assassination as an act of provocation and called upon the world community to pressure Tel Aviv to put on the brakes.

Denmark strongly condemned the assassination of late Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi.

A Foreign Ministry statement said that Denmark strongly condemns the operation in which Al-Rantissi was killed. It said that Denmark had already supported Israel's right to self-defense, but believes that what Israel did should undermine the peace process in the region, adding that peace can only be achieved through negotiations based on the road-map.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of Palestinians and Arabs took to the streets across the Middle East in angry demonstrations against Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi.

Refugee camps in Jordan exploded in protest after Al-Rantissi's death 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 last Saturday as thousands of protesters chanted: "Vengeance" in the wake of Al-Rantissi's murder.

As 200,000 people poured onto the streets of Gaza City for Al-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 Al-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 shouted: "Victory or martyrdom," and "The blood of the martyr will not be traded" as they rallied at the Ain 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.

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.

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

In a statement following the assassination of Dr. Abdul-Aziz Al-Rantisi, President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Leadership called on International Community to provide international protection to the Palestinian people and his Leadership.

Israeli government's practices against the Palestinian people will not weaken the resistance of the Palestinians in face of the occupation, colonization and Israel's arrogance, the statement said.

The Palestinian Leadership confirmed that the atrocious assassinations crimes will strengthen our steadfastness and consolidate our national unity in the face of state terror.

The statement concluded that the Palestinian people are firmly determined to confront the continued Israeli crimes through resistance and steadfastness. There is no way, for the Palestinian People, but the way of freedom to liberate their land and establish the independent Palestinian state.

On its part, the Palestinian government also denounced Israel's assassination of Dr. Al-Rantisi and said that the Israeli terrorist attack is a result of the US encouragement and the complete US bias to the Israeli Government.

It called on the Quartet to immediately intervene to stop the Israeli "mass liquidation" of the Palestinian people and held Israel responsible for the collapse of security in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.