So much for cutting off snake heads, and all other clever analogies....
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/in...rint&position=
March 23, 2004
Hamas Names Hard-line Figure as New Leader in Gaza
By GREG MYRE
ERUSALEM, March 23 — Hamas named one of its most outspoken and hard-line figures, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, as the new leader of the Islamic movement in the Gaza Strip today following the killing of the group's founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, on Monday.
Also, senior Israeli security officials said top Hamas leaders would continue to be targets for attack as part of an ongoing campaign against Palestinians linked to violence against Israel.
"Everyone is in our sights," said Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel's minister of internal security. "There is no immunity for anyone."
Dr. Rantisi, a pediatrician in his mid-50's, was chosen in the wake of Israel's helicopter missile strike that killed Sheik Yassin early Monday in Gaza City.
Dr. Rantisi does not have the stature of Sheik Yassin, who established the group in 1987. However, Mr. Rantisi is the most visible and fiery Hamas spokesman, well known from the frequent interviews he gives.
With Dr. Rantisi leading Hamas in its Gaza stronghold, the group is expected to push hard to carry out bombings and other attacks.
However, Khaled Mashaal, a Hamas leader based in Syria, remains the head of the group's political bureau, the main decision-making body, news agencies reported.
Dr. Rantisi has been a senior figure in Hamas for years, and was wounded in an Israeli helicopter attack last June.
In a group defined by its extreme positions, Dr. Rantisi is known as the Hamas leader who issues the most vitriolic statements. He opposes any form of compromise with Israel.
After Sheik Yassin's death, Dr. Rantisi declared an "open war" with Israel.
"Inside Palestine, there will be no security for the Zionists and Jews," he said Monday.
Dr. Rantisi spent years imprisoned in Israel. And the Palestinian Authority, which he frequently criticizes, jailed him for about two years in the late 1990's.
He is one of several senior members in the group's political bureau.
Israel, however, says it does not distinguish between the "political" and "military" wings of Hamas.
Israeli officials say that Sheik Yassin, Dr. Rantisi and other senior figures have guided the group's suicide bombing campaign even if they have not planned the details of specific attacks.
The killing brought Israel a deluge of international criticism and Palestinian groups called for a new wave of attacks.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei traveled from the West Bank to Gaza to take part in a memorial service for Mr. Yassin today. Hamas is a political rival of the Fatah movement, headed by the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and Mr. Qurei, but the parties have set aside their differences, at least temporarily.
"It is such an ugly crime committed by this government of murders, it is the Israeli government that assassinated this symbol of resistance," Mr. Qurei said. "We are witnessing today, here in his memorial, the unity of the Palestinian people."
Israel, meanwhile, said it would press on with its current offensive in Gaza, which began a week ago in response to a double suicide bombing by the Palestinians that killed 10 Israelis.
"If we will continue, in a determined way, with our strikes against Hamas and other terror groups, with the means I outlined, including action against those leaders, we will bring more security to Israeli citizens," said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.
Israeli security officials acknowledged that Sheik Yassin's killing could energize the Palestinian factions. But they say that Hamas and other groups are already attempting to carry out as many attacks as possible.
Despite fears to stepped-up violence, the region was relatively quiet today.
The most serious incident was in the central Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants fired a rocket at an Israeli armored vehicle near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, the military said.
The militants also lobbed mortar at the settlement, but there were no injuries in either incident.
In Israel, police tightened security and there was a marked decline in the number of people taking buses and visiting crowded public places.
In Jerusalem, police vehicles and officers were present at bus stops on busy routes, and the police set up additional checkpoints at main entrances into the city.
###