Witnesses said they saw soldiers shoot at a car, killing
Hamas leader Abdullah Kawasme in what Palestinians described as
an "assassination." Security sources said troops attempted to
arrest Kawasme.
A political source said Kawasme was one of Israel's most
wanted militants responsible for a series of attacks on
Israelis, including last week's bus bombing in Jerusalem that
killed 17 people.
The Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) has long demanded Israel end its
track-and-kill operations, which it says block attempts to
achieve a truce and begin implementing a U.S.-backed peace
plan.
"This is another proof that the Israelis are...continuing
the assassinations," Palestinian Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed
Rabbo told Reuters.
"These operations are meant to obstruct any success of the
dialogue to reach a truce (with militants)," Rabbo added.
Israel has gained international condemnation for its
targeted operations aimed at Palestinian militants. It vowed
all-out war on the militant group Hamas after last week's bus
bombing, killing six Gaza militants using helicopter missiles.
The strikes also killed at least 17 bystanders, one of whom
died of his wounds Saturday, doctors said.
Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction, has
claimed responsibility for a series of attacks following a June
4 summit in which Israeli and Palestinian leaders accepted a
U.S.-backed road map peace plan and vowed to cease the
violence.
During a trouble-shooting visit by Secretary of State Colin
Powell (news - web sites) Friday, Hamas claimed a shooting attack that killed a
Jewish settler with both American and Israeli citizenship. His
funeral was held Saturday night.
A source in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s office
said Israel agreed to give Palestinians three weeks to organize
forces for a crackdown on militants.
During this period, Israeli forces in the territories would
largely stand down, the source said, but added "there would be
no immunity for 'ticking bombs"' -- militants Israel says are
about to attack.
Palestinians did not comment on the plan. Israel,
emboldened by Powell's denunciation of Hamas as an "enemy of
peace," has rejected Abbas's conciliatory focus on a
cease-fire.
"A truce is in itself a ticking bomb, so it cannot last in
the long run," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel
Radio. "There cannot be a situation where the Palestinian
extremists decide when this ticking bomb becomes a live and
real bomb."
U.S. officials said Gaza, Hamas' densely populated
stronghold which has been subject to repeated Israeli
incursions and air strikes, was under discussion for possible
transfer to Palestinian security control to advance the peace
plan.
Powell made clear the road map -- drafted by the United
States, the European Union (news - web sites), Russia and the United Nations (news - web sites) --
also depended on restraint by Israel, whose right-wing
government accepted the plan under heavy U.S. pressure.
U.S. sources in Washington said Bush's national security
adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), co-managing peace efforts with
Powell, would visit the region next week. (Additional
reporting by Mohammed Assadi)
