GAZA CITY Ñ Israel has assassinated another leading Hamas insurgent.
Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles toward a vehicle that
contained two Hamas members. Yasser Tahar and Jihad Sarour as well as five
passersby were killed in the attack in Gaza City on Thursday.
Israeli military sources identified Tahar as a senior Hamas commander
who was involved in smuggling weapons for the insurgency group. The sources
said Tahar was as an aide of former Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, who
engineered scores of suicide strikes.
"As a government responsible for the security of its citizens, we must
wage a war to the bitter end because no one else, at least at this stage,
will do it," Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said.
So far, five Hamas fugitives were killed in the last three days. Hamas
has responded to the attacks with a suicide bombing and several Kassam-2 missile strikes. Seventeen people were killed in a Hamas suicide bombing in a packed Jerusalem bus on Wednesday.
Hamas fired five Kassam-2 missiles toward southern Israel on Thursday
and Friday. One missile damaged a factory in the Israeli city of Sderot, the
main target of Hamas for more than a year.
On late Thursday, Hamas declared what it termed a holy war against
Israel. In a communique, the group warned foreigners to leave the Gaza
Strip.
In Jenin, two senior members of the Islamic Jihad were killed in an
operation by Israel's Border Guard paramilitary force. Israeli military
sources said the two were killed in a gun battle.
On Friday, Israel's state radio reported that President George Bush
telephoned PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. The radio said Abbas pledged to
achieve a ceasefire by Palestinian insurgency groups.