Israel targets Hamas leader after suicide attack

“We do not fear the threat of death,” Yassin, wrapped in a brown blanket, said outside the mosque. “We will not bow to pressure and resistance will continue until the occupation is destroyed.”

Yassin said he was not personally involved in planning attacks, denying allegations by Israeli security officials that he had approved this week’s bombing in which a young mother blew herself up and killed four Israelis at the Erez crossing into Israel.

The Israeli officials also said Yassin issued a religious ruling allowing women to become bombers, after Hamas initially recruited only male assailants.

Israeli security officials met to weigh a response to the latest Hamas bombing and one official said targeted killings of senior Hamas members are likely to resume after a lull of several months.

Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim said Yassin is a key target.

“Sheik Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he won’t know the difference between day and night. And we will find him in the tunnels, and we will eliminate him,” Boim told Israel Army Radio.

Israeli officials have said in the past they would go after Hamas leaders in retaliation for deadly bombings, but Boim’s comment marked the first time a senior official spoke in public about a particular militant being targeted.

Several security officials said Yassin was not singled out and killing the Hamas founder would require approval by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the officials said.

An Israeli strike against Yassin, who is revered also by Palestinians who do not support Hamas, would likely provoke revenge bombings.

Palestinian MP Hanan Ashrawi said an attack on Yassin would also boost support for militants among the Palestinians. “It doesn’t take much brains to know that assassinating the political leadership of Hamas will have serious implications locally and regionally,” she said.

Yassin, who founded Hamas in 1987 and spent several years in Israeli prisons, already dodged one Israeli attempt to kill him in September.

A warplane dropped a 550-pound bomb on a building where he and other Hamas leaders were meeting, but Yassin escaped with just a small wound to his hand.

In the summer, Israel also launched several high-profile attacks on other Palestinian leaders, killing Ismail Abu Shanab, considered a relative pragmatist in the group. Two others, Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Mahmoud Zahar, narrowly escaped missile strikes.

Toward the end of the summer, Israel scaled back its attacks in concert with a significant drop in Hamas bombings. However, there was never evidence of even an unspoken agreement between the two sides. Israel insisted it forced a drop in attacks by arresting as many as 30 potential suicide bombers.

Hamas leaders, though often in hiding to avoid Israeli strikes, kept up their militant pronouncements and rebuffed efforts by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Egyptian mediators to declare a halt to attacks against Israelis. Yassin reiterated Friday that Hamas would not agree to a cease-fire.

The suicide bombing on Wednesday put an end to the ”so-called quiet period,” said the Israeli air force commander, Major General Dan Halutz.

Without giving details, Halutz said the air force and military intelligence have developed “pinpoint” methods to “hit only those who deserve it.” .

Israel has a long history of hunting down Palestinians held responsible for attacks on Israelis.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Israeli agents tracked down and killed members of Black September, the Palestinian terror group responsible for the bloody hostage-taking of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

In 1988, at the start of the first Palestinian uprising, Israeli commandos killed PLO military chief Khalil al-Wazir.

Since the outbreak of the latest fighting in September 2000, Israel has killed more than 140 suspected militants in targeted attacks, according to Palestinian medical officials. More than 110 bystanders have also been killed.