ISRAEL: Israel's Defence Minister vowed yesterday to continue targeting Hamas leaders for assassination, and its army chief intimated that Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat was not immune.
This comes a day after Israeli helicopters fired three missiles in Gaza that killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the radical Islamic group Hamas.
In Gaza, Hamas elected a new leader, while in Israel security forces were on heightened alert for revenge attacks.
The UN's Security Council, meanwhile, was scheduled to discuss the Yassin assassination at a session starting last night.
"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 Defence Minister Mr Shaul Mofaz.
Asked whether Yassin's killing now meant that Israel would go after Mr Arafat and Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, army chief Lieut Gen Moshe Ya'alon said the two leaders' reactions "show that they understand that it is nearing them".
While he conceded that the strike on Yassin would spur Hamas to carry out more attacks, Gen Ya'alon was adamant it would ultimately weaken the organization. "In the long run, the assassination is likely to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip and encourage moderate forces to prevent the founding of 'Hamas-land' in the Strip."
In Gaza, Mr Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior Hamas official, was chosen as the top Hamas leader in the area.
Known as a hardliner even within Hamas, Mr Rantisi said yesterday that "we will be unified in the trenches of resistance. We will not surrender, we will never surrender to Israeli terror The continuation of resistance is going to be my goal."
Young Palestinian boys visited the fresh grave of Yassin, while five new-born babies in Gaza were named after the slain wheelchair-bound cleric.
At the sheikh's Gaza home, his wife, Halima. greeted mourners. "We're counting on God and God will give us our revenge...on the Jews I hope," she said.
In Israel, security forces were on high alert, and officials said the heightened state of readiness would remain in effect until after the Jewish holiday of Passover in mid-April.
Buses were noticeably more empty yesterday as many Israelis steered clear of areas that have been targeted by suicide bombers.
Despite their jitters, a poll conducted by the mass-distribution daily Yediot Ahronoth found that 60 per cent of Israelis believed killing Yassin was the right thing to do, while 32 per cent said it was wrong. Some 80 per cent said they thought the assassination would increase terror attacks.
Security was also increased at Israeli embassies and consulates abroad, and Jewish centres around the world were advised to do the same.
Israeli Arabs took to the streets in northern Israel yesterday to protest at the assassination. Several thousand people marched through the streets of Nazareth, waving Palestinian flags as well as flags with the emblem of the Islamic Movement.
Israeli Arab lawmakers at the march attacked the government's policy of targeted hits, while protesters carried banners with the slogan: "Sharon is a terror leader."
In his first public response to the assassination, President Bush said yesterday that Israel had "the right to defend herself from terror", but he hoped the Jewish state would keep the "consequences in mind".
The debate in the Security Council follows secretary general Mr Kofi Annan's strong criticism on Monday of Israel's actions.
While the council will discuss the UN's response to the killing, action against Israel is unlikely since it would almost certainly be vetoed by the US.
Israeli aircraft foiled an attempt by guerrillas in southern Lebanon to fire rockets into Israel last night, the Israeli army said. A Lebanese security source said two Palestinians managed to fire rockets across the border into Israel before being killed in the air attack. - (Reuters)