Israel could target Hamas leaders, including Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh, if the militant group renews attacks in the Jewish state, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday.
"No one there is immune, not just Ismail Haniyeh," Mofaz told Army Radio in response to a question about whether Israel regarded him as a target for assassination.
"The moment Hamas chooses the path of terror, there is no question here of political or non-political [leadership]. This would be a terrorist leadership, and therefore none of its members would be immune," Mofaz said.
Mofaz's remarks, three weeks before Israel's March 28 general election, echoed recent comments by interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security advisers.
Olmert heads the centrist Kadima party, to which Mofaz belongs, and both men have been taking a tough public line on security as election day approaches.
Mofaz told Israel's Army Radio that Israel's policy of targeted killings has proven to be effective, and will continue.
Salah al-Bardawil, a Hamas spokesman, denounced Mofaz's comments.
"This statement and Israeli practices on the ground reflect the bloody, inhumane and inflammatory character of the Zionist enemy," al-Bardawil said.
"We are not seeking immunity or mercy from Israel. We are in a confrontation. The side that is most steadfast is the side that will survive," she said.
Hamas headed into a domestic confrontation on Monday by stripping Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of powers his then-ruling Fatah Party granted him in its last session.
Fatah delegates walked out of parliament in protest, charging that Hamas was twisting the rules to nullify Abbas' additional authority. They planned to extend their protest yesterday by boycotting the parliamentary session, a Fatah official said.
The Hamas-Fatah conflict has been simmering since Hamas swept Fatah out of office in January, winning 74 seats in the new parliament to Fatah's 45.
Azzam al-Ahmed, Fatah's parliamentary faction leader, said yesterday that Fatah would file suit against Hamas in the Palestinian Supreme Court in the course of the day.
"They used their majority to infringe the law on behalf of their interests, and we are resorting now to the judiciary to help us protect the law," al-Ahmed said.
Some legal experts say Abbas has the authority to cancel Hamas' action on Monday, a move that would perpetuate the standoff.
Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in an election in January and his term has three years to run, regardless of the makeup of the parliament.
Meanwhile an airstrike on Monday killed two Islamic Jihad militants and three other people in the Gaza Strip, one an eight-year-old boy, Palestinian witnesses said.
The Israeli army confirmed the strike on a car carrying the two militants.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
RSS