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"Crisis" in Hamas as Leaders Killed

(Washington Times) Paul Martin - "Hamas might have a crisis on its hands after losing its leaders," said senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh at the funeral on Sunday for Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who was killed on Saturday. A leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade told Iran's state-controlled news agency that Hamas and Al Aqsa have been seriously hurt by the killings of key combatants. "The Islamic and Arab world...expected the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas resistance movement combatants to take revenge for the bloodshed of martyr Sheikh Ahmed Yassin immediately, but [they] are unaware of the limitations and [the] amount of pressure imposed against the Palestinian combatants," he said. The unnamed leader said that in the past month or so, Israel had killed "a unique Al Aqsa explosives expert, Ahmad Bade," along with "one of the most prominent activists of Hamas, Ali Allamah," and a Hamas military commander, Mahmoud abu-Audah. Several other key Hamas operatives have been captured inside Israel, he added. Due to the difficulties of getting into Israel, he said, the only realistic short-term option was to attack Israeli targets within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A leading Arab expert on Palestinian militant movements said that Hamas also might be deterred by the fear that a large-scale attack inside Israel would provoke Israel to kill Arafat - whom Hamas now sees as its main protector. "It is mainly because of Arafat that Hamas is left unharmed by the Palestinian Authority's security services," said Nabil Khatib, a lecturer at Bir Zeit University.
2004-04-20 00:00:00
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