- Sep 14, 2004
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Israel is in a state of war with Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. As you know, Hamas is responsible for suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and murder of civilians inside Israel. Does this justify Israel killing Hamas members no matter where they are located? Can Israel invoke the right of self-defense when preempting Hamas terrorist activities?
From Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6334440&pageNumber=0
Suspected Israeli Agents Kill Militant in SyriaSun Sep 26, 2004 02:48 PM ET
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria accused Israel of terrorism after a bomb -- which Israeli security sources said Israel planted -- killed a Hamas official in Damascus on Sunday. Hamas vowed to retaliate.
"This terrorist act represents a grave development that Israel shoulders responsibility for, as it emphasizes its intention to shake security and stability in the region," the Syrian state news agency quoted an official source as saying.
A bomb killed Izz el-Deen al-Sheikh Khalil, 42, when he started the engine and an explosive charge under the driver's seat ripped through his SUV in the Az-Zahera neighborhood of Syria's capital, witnesses said. Three passers-by were wounded.
Palestinian sources in Gaza said Khalil was believed to be in charge of the group's military wing outside the Palestinian territories. Hamas sources in Beirut said he was a mid-level official. The Palestinian militant group vowed revenge.
Israel's Channel Two, citing unidentified security sources, said Israel was behind the car bombing.
"In off-the-record conversations there is confirmation that Israel is responsible for this morning's assassination of a senior Hamas official in Damascus," the television station said.
Were Israel to have carried out the attack, it would be a rare foray into Syria -- only the second in around 30 years.
A neighbor who identified himself only as Nabil said: "He (Khalil) said good morning to us like he does every day and then walked to his car.
"He got into the car and then the phone rang," Nabil said. After answering the phone, Khalil tried to start the car, he said. "We heard the explosion. We rushed toward his car and found him in pieces in the back seat."
The blast shattered windows in high-rise buildings and damaged a nearby car.
A spokesman in Gaza for Hamas -- an Islamist group bent on Israel's destruction which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel -- said the killing was "a cowardly crime by the Zionist Mossad," a reference to Israel's spy agency.
REVENGE
In a statement released in Gaza, Hamas threatened to target Israelis abroad in retaliation.
"We have let hundreds of thousands of Zionists travel and move in capitals of the world in order not to be the party which transfers the struggle. But the Zionist enemy has done so and should bear the consequences of its actions," said the statement by Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
But spokesmen in Damascus and Beirut said Hamas would launch attacks only inside Israel and the Palestinian territories in keeping with the group's policy.
A Syrian Interior Ministry source identified Khalil to the official news agency as a Palestinian citizen "who did not carry out any (organized) activity in Syrian territories."
Israel last launched an attack in Syria in October last year, sending warplanes to bomb a suspected Palestinian militant training base after a suicide bombing in Israel. It was the first Israeli attack in Syria in 30 years.
Israeli security officials had vowed to renew an assassination campaign against Hamas leaders in Palestinian areas and abroad in response to twin bus bombings on Aug. 31 that killed 16 people in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Israeli army chief Moshe Yaalon said this month that Israel would "deal with ... those who support terrorism," including those in "terror command posts in Damascus."
On Friday, the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported that an Arab country had given the Mossad detailed information about Hamas's leadership in a number of Arab capitals. It did not identify the country.
Syria's support of anti-Israeli militant factions, both Palestinian and Lebanese, was a key reason for the imposition of U.S. economic sanctions against Damascus in May.
Palestinian activists had said all Palestinian factions with offices in Syria had decided to close to avoid embarrassing their hosts in view of the increased U.S. pressure on Damascus.
The Syrian Interior Ministry source said Israel had not allowed Khalil to return to the Palestinian territories since his banishment in 1992. The source said authorities were investigating the incident.
Last March, Israel killed Hamas's co-founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in a helicopter missile strike as he left a mosque in Gaza City.
His successor, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, was killed a month later in a similar Israeli attack in Gaza City.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Matthew Tostevin in Jerusalem and Leila Bassam in Beirut)
From Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6334440&pageNumber=0
Suspected Israeli Agents Kill Militant in SyriaSun Sep 26, 2004 02:48 PM ET
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria accused Israel of terrorism after a bomb -- which Israeli security sources said Israel planted -- killed a Hamas official in Damascus on Sunday. Hamas vowed to retaliate.
"This terrorist act represents a grave development that Israel shoulders responsibility for, as it emphasizes its intention to shake security and stability in the region," the Syrian state news agency quoted an official source as saying.
A bomb killed Izz el-Deen al-Sheikh Khalil, 42, when he started the engine and an explosive charge under the driver's seat ripped through his SUV in the Az-Zahera neighborhood of Syria's capital, witnesses said. Three passers-by were wounded.
Palestinian sources in Gaza said Khalil was believed to be in charge of the group's military wing outside the Palestinian territories. Hamas sources in Beirut said he was a mid-level official. The Palestinian militant group vowed revenge.
Israel's Channel Two, citing unidentified security sources, said Israel was behind the car bombing.
"In off-the-record conversations there is confirmation that Israel is responsible for this morning's assassination of a senior Hamas official in Damascus," the television station said.
Were Israel to have carried out the attack, it would be a rare foray into Syria -- only the second in around 30 years.
A neighbor who identified himself only as Nabil said: "He (Khalil) said good morning to us like he does every day and then walked to his car.
"He got into the car and then the phone rang," Nabil said. After answering the phone, Khalil tried to start the car, he said. "We heard the explosion. We rushed toward his car and found him in pieces in the back seat."
The blast shattered windows in high-rise buildings and damaged a nearby car.
A spokesman in Gaza for Hamas -- an Islamist group bent on Israel's destruction which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel -- said the killing was "a cowardly crime by the Zionist Mossad," a reference to Israel's spy agency.
REVENGE
In a statement released in Gaza, Hamas threatened to target Israelis abroad in retaliation.
"We have let hundreds of thousands of Zionists travel and move in capitals of the world in order not to be the party which transfers the struggle. But the Zionist enemy has done so and should bear the consequences of its actions," said the statement by Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
But spokesmen in Damascus and Beirut said Hamas would launch attacks only inside Israel and the Palestinian territories in keeping with the group's policy.
A Syrian Interior Ministry source identified Khalil to the official news agency as a Palestinian citizen "who did not carry out any (organized) activity in Syrian territories."
Israel last launched an attack in Syria in October last year, sending warplanes to bomb a suspected Palestinian militant training base after a suicide bombing in Israel. It was the first Israeli attack in Syria in 30 years.
Israeli security officials had vowed to renew an assassination campaign against Hamas leaders in Palestinian areas and abroad in response to twin bus bombings on Aug. 31 that killed 16 people in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Israeli army chief Moshe Yaalon said this month that Israel would "deal with ... those who support terrorism," including those in "terror command posts in Damascus."
On Friday, the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported that an Arab country had given the Mossad detailed information about Hamas's leadership in a number of Arab capitals. It did not identify the country.
Syria's support of anti-Israeli militant factions, both Palestinian and Lebanese, was a key reason for the imposition of U.S. economic sanctions against Damascus in May.
Palestinian activists had said all Palestinian factions with offices in Syria had decided to close to avoid embarrassing their hosts in view of the increased U.S. pressure on Damascus.
The Syrian Interior Ministry source said Israel had not allowed Khalil to return to the Palestinian territories since his banishment in 1992. The source said authorities were investigating the incident.
Last March, Israel killed Hamas's co-founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in a helicopter missile strike as he left a mosque in Gaza City.
His successor, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, was killed a month later in a similar Israeli attack in Gaza City.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Matthew Tostevin in Jerusalem and Leila Bassam in Beirut)
