seruriermarshal
05-05-2004, 09:08 PM
Israel Kills Top Hamas Man, Frees Another
BUREIJ REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza (*******) - Israel released a cofounder of Hamas to the Gaza Strip but shot and killed another leader of the militant group in the West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses and a military source said.
Mohammed Taha, 68, had been the highest ranking Hamas figure from Gaza in Israeli custody. He was arrested during a military raid in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza in March 2003.
Witnesses said Taha was freed at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza Wednesday afternoon, and then driven by supporters to Bureij, in central Gaza.
It was not immediately clear exactly why Taha was released at a time when Israel has stepped up operations against Hamas, having assassinated two leaders of the group -- Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantissi -- since March.
Shortly after Taha's release, Israeli soldiers shot dead a senior Hamas militant leader, Imad Mohammed Janajra, 31, in an olive grove in the northern West Bank, witnesses said.
An Israeli military source said Janajra was shot when soldiers spotted him armed and approaching them near his village of Talousa. The source said troops also detonated a bomb planted nearby.
Taha, received by thousands in Bureij who gave him a triumphant welcome, vowed to avenge Janajra's death.
He said Israel's strikes against the militants "will soon come down on their own and heads they will regret it only after it will be too late."
About a dozen Hamas men armed with assault rifles surrounded his car as celebrants tossed candy and supporters hoisted their white-robed and bearded leader on their shoulders to parade him through the streets.
Taha was asked about the March 22 assassination of Hamas leader Yassin and the April 18 killing by Israel of Yassin's successor, Rantissi.
Taha replied: "If the enemies of God believe that by killing the leaders of the movement they will kill the spirit of steadfastness, they are under an illusion."
The Israeli army had no immediate comment on Taha's release.
Taha had helped found Hamas near the outset of the first Palestinian uprising against Israel in 1987.
He had been arrested with three of his sons in a raid in which eight other Palestinians were killed. At the time, one of his sons told ******* soldiers "crept into our house" and beat Taha before taking him into custody.
Another of his sons, Yasser Taha, was killed by Israeli in a targeted air strike in Gaza City last June.
Hamas has spearheaded a wave of suicide bomb attacks against Israelis as part of a Palestinian uprising, that have killed hundreds in the past four years.
BUREIJ REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza (*******) - Israel released a cofounder of Hamas to the Gaza Strip but shot and killed another leader of the militant group in the West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses and a military source said.
Mohammed Taha, 68, had been the highest ranking Hamas figure from Gaza in Israeli custody. He was arrested during a military raid in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza in March 2003.
Witnesses said Taha was freed at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza Wednesday afternoon, and then driven by supporters to Bureij, in central Gaza.
It was not immediately clear exactly why Taha was released at a time when Israel has stepped up operations against Hamas, having assassinated two leaders of the group -- Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantissi -- since March.
Shortly after Taha's release, Israeli soldiers shot dead a senior Hamas militant leader, Imad Mohammed Janajra, 31, in an olive grove in the northern West Bank, witnesses said.
An Israeli military source said Janajra was shot when soldiers spotted him armed and approaching them near his village of Talousa. The source said troops also detonated a bomb planted nearby.
Taha, received by thousands in Bureij who gave him a triumphant welcome, vowed to avenge Janajra's death.
He said Israel's strikes against the militants "will soon come down on their own and heads they will regret it only after it will be too late."
About a dozen Hamas men armed with assault rifles surrounded his car as celebrants tossed candy and supporters hoisted their white-robed and bearded leader on their shoulders to parade him through the streets.
Taha was asked about the March 22 assassination of Hamas leader Yassin and the April 18 killing by Israel of Yassin's successor, Rantissi.
Taha replied: "If the enemies of God believe that by killing the leaders of the movement they will kill the spirit of steadfastness, they are under an illusion."
The Israeli army had no immediate comment on Taha's release.
Taha had helped found Hamas near the outset of the first Palestinian uprising against Israel in 1987.
He had been arrested with three of his sons in a raid in which eight other Palestinians were killed. At the time, one of his sons told ******* soldiers "crept into our house" and beat Taha before taking him into custody.
Another of his sons, Yasser Taha, was killed by Israeli in a targeted air strike in Gaza City last June.
Hamas has spearheaded a wave of suicide bomb attacks against Israelis as part of a Palestinian uprising, that have killed hundreds in the past four years.