TERRORISM: Hamas Founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin Assassinated

Updates: www.reuters.com Israel kills Yassin, drawing Hamas vows of revenge GAZA (Reuters) - Israel assassinated Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin outside a Gaza mosque on Monday, striking its heaviest blow against the militant group behind dozens of suicide bombings and drawing vows of revenge. Israeli security sources said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon personally ordered and monitored the helicopter attack against the paralysed cleric, whose wheelchair lay squashed in a pool of blood after three missiles exploded. www.mlive.com Sharon takes gamble in killing Hamas chief JERUSALEM (AP) � Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin was a huge gamble. It could either weaken Hamas and drive its leadership underground or galvanize Palestinian hatred toward Israel and end up strengthening the Islamic militant group. New pressures may have pushed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to act now. SABCnews.com SA condemns assassination of Hamas founder The South African government has condemned the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas and spiritual leader, in Palestine today. The department of foreign affairs said in a statement that such extra-judicial assassinations were in contravention of international law and relevant UN conventions and only served to strengthen those not committed to achieving peace in the Middle East. IsrealNN.com Every Hamas Leader's Days Are Numbered Every one of the Hamas leaders who remains alive knows that his days are numbered," Vice-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today. "The operation was inevitable," Olmert continued, "Sheikh Yassin was the head of a terrorist organization, which all the world recognized as such and marked as an organization of murder, destruction and terror." channelnewsasia.com Iraq braces for fallout from killing of Hamas leader BAGHDAD : Iraqi leaders condemned Israel's killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and expressed fears it would plunge their war-torn country into further chaos. As Iraq braced for the worst, an explosion outside a US military base north of Baghdad killed one Iraqi paramilitary and wounded eight civilians, while a bombing near the capital claimed the lives of a US soldier and his interpreter. [Edited on 22-3-2004 by SkepticOverlord]

more... www.haaretz.com... Hamas: Sharon has opened the gates of hell Hamas leaders vowed Monday to "cut off" the head of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after their spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed in a missile strike by Israeli helicopter gunships in Gaza City. "Sharon has opened the gates of hell and nothing will stop us from cutting off his head," leaders of the radical Islamic group vowed. "Words cannot describe the emotion of anger and hate inside our hearts," said Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, a close associate of Yassin in Gaza. He said that "the enemy should expect a response that will turn the ground under his feet to hell ... All of Palestine will turn into a volcano that will burn up the enemies."

And I though I was going to have a nice day. Oh well.

So much for any semblence of "peace" in the middle east. I wonder how the other Muslim nations are gonna handle this. Personally, I think the Israeli top cheese is spoiling for another grudge match. Another Arab-Israeli war in the long run?

Israel could face MASSIVE retaliation in the wake of this. I heard about this on my way tot he office this morning and thought, "What the hell is Sharon thinking?"
The beginning of a much wider Middle East war maybe?

I've got to the point where I'm tired of hearing about it now. Both sides are idiots, I just feel sorry for the innocent civilians.
It's got to the point that I hope they just nuke each other and let that be the end of it, it's never going to stop. Bloody religion!!!

Not a good move!!

Why does Israel think that they can get rid of militants who kill by killing militants and their leaders???? Isn't it obvious they are only inciting them and creating more militants who hate them?

This is a no win situation for both parties. It's a shame that so much tragedy has to occur in such a beautiful place. Glad I got visit Israel a few years ago, before the increase of these terrorist attacks and retaliations.

Personally I think Israel is tired of having these scum snipe at them and decided to take this problem to the next level. You can only get bitten by the neighbors dog for so long before you finally just strike back.

Although I think this will get ugly at least it may put into play an end game for the situation. Who will win? Time will tell but at least we may see the finaly battles coming soon. In the end one group prevails (most likely Israel) and maybe must maybe they can get peace.

Of course if you believe in prophecies and such this also sets up a great opportunity for the "anti-christ" to create the 7 years of peace we are supposed to see.

Hamas is calling for retaliation against Israel and the United States. I guess we gave the "okay", but Rice is saying we had no early warning. Stay on your toes people, we just keep inviting more "possibilities".

Is Israel planning to assinate every new leader of Hamas that comes forward? I can't see how this strategy will be effective.

That's just trowing oil over the fire.

First post ever... so please don't flame too hard!

Hamas seems to have made a key mistake with the threat towards the US. If we weren't in "BED" with Israel on their fight with Hamas, we certainly will be now.

This will only stop when the followers of militant islam realize that they have no right... personal or otherwise to punish those who disagree with their belief system.

I'm barely religious, but I believe if whoever you believe in doesn't like what your're doing, it's THEIR job to dole out the punishment!

My first post as well...so, please be indulgent.
No matter how I view this situation, it's not good. I would think that even non-Hamas Muslims will be enraged by the killing of a "religious" leader in a mosque. For those Muslims who hate the US, this is just throwing oil on the fire.
Both sides are issuing such dire threats that I can't see any good outcome in the Middle East.
Certainly, I view Hamas as terrorist, but practicality has to come into play somewhere.
Did the US give the ok for this "surgical strike" or, excuse me, "target of opportunity"? I would think so. Even if we didn't, the Arab world will percieve that we have.
Looks like a bad day for all sides.
joey

About Damn Time!! Good for Isreal - But I would hate to be in Isreal anytime soon. There will be Palestinian body flying all around!

Yassin was a justifiable target. If you're going to command a terror group that kills innocent Israelis then you shouldn't be surprised if you're a target. Why is this any different than the US tracking down UBL?

BUT, I don�t see the point, really. What�s this going to achieve? These terror organizations like fatah, al aqusa, etc, are so intertwined killing the leader doesn�t have the same effect as a �decapitation� strike against Saddam might have had.

Perhaps the strategy is this: If Hamas has a less then spectacular response, not as strong as their rhetoric, they will look weak and irrelevant.

He is a "religious leader" like Osama bin Laden is.

If the US saw Sheik Osama walking in Afghanistan on the Predator video cam, wouldn't they press the button?

I don't see any difference.

I think people have to remember the charter of Hamas. (This is not a secret). They believe in eternal Muslim rule over "all of Palestine", meaning obliteraiton of Israel and genocide of the Jews, and they are against all negotiations and peace talks. And all of their actions agree with this.

What exactly is there to negotiate over?

Well, actually from what I read he had come out of the Mosque after the morning prayer. To me that makes a big difference because an attack on a house of worship should be off limits to anyone. Plus, had Israel launched rockets at the mosque directly there would have been a whole lot more than 7 deaths. Apparently the IDF waited until he was outside of the Mosque (which they knew he was inside) until they launched their attack specifically because rocketing a house of worship is far worse than a house or a car etc.

Israel knows what its doing. This is what they wanted. If not Arafat then Yassin...the reaction will be deadly enough that no one will care what they do to the Palestinians. A few Palestinians take to the streets and now all Palestinians supposedly support suicide bombings. There are no civilians.

mbk, you are correct in your point about the Hamas charter. Everyone (including folks on the ats boards) forgets that Hamas has no interest in controlling only the 1967 territories. They don't believe there should be an Israel at all. Not even in the lands that were set up by the UN in '48. I would like to reiterate however a point that I've made in numerous threads which is that Hamas's violent intentions towards Jewish people (civilians particularly) is absolutely NOT representative of the Muslim people as a whole. Sadly that's another point missed out on by most people. There's a reason groups like Hamas are called extremists. Yassin believed in removing Jews as a whole from the middle east. So did the grand mufti way back around WW2. This is not common Muslim opinion. That would then indicate the attack on Yassin is not an attack on "Muslims" but rather on a small group of muslims who in their own words and language wish for the death of all Jewish people.

The International reaction so far seems entirely negative. The British foreign secretary Jack Straw described the assassination as "unacceptable" and "unjustified" saying he did not think Israel would benefit from an attack on an old man in a wheelchair.
A number 10 spokesman described it as a "setback"; a candidate for understatement of the year there...

European Union foreign ministers condemned what they called Israel's "extra-judicial killing".

"Not only are extra-judicial killings contrary to international law, they undermine the concept of the rule of law, which is a key element in the fight against terrorism," they said at their regular monthly meeting in Brussels.

Russia voiced concern and spoke of fears of a new wave of violence, as did France. Egypt called it cowardly, Jordan called it a crime and Iranian officials said the killing would trigger an even bigger struggle against Israel and the US. The attack was also condemned by the Arab League and Iraq's governing council who said it could increase violence in Iraq.

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said: "Violence will increase now because violence always breeds violence."

There seems no direct approval or condemnation from the U.S, just an appeal for calm.

news.bbc.co.uk...

I kinda agree with Bob88 on this. I can see how the man was a target, but killing him in this way they must have known what the reaction would be. Seeing if their reaction would be less than their rhetoric seems a bit of a huge gamble though. Apparently the strike was personally supervised by Sharon. I really can't see what he hoped to achieve apart from maybe a resultant short term power struggle at the top of Hamas, but the amount of lower level militants and suicide bombers that will be recruited as a result of this will far outweigh that advantage IMO.


[Edited on 22-3-2004 by kegs]

Where's the international condemnation when a member of Hamas steps on a bus, detonates an explosive and kills a bunch of innocent Israelis? Yassini was a major player in this game. When Rehavam Zeevi was assassinated, do you remember an international condemnation? No? Me neither. And Zeevi was just a tourism minister while Yassini is responsible for the death of children.