Israeli Air Strike Kills Hamas Founder

[Lefty Wilbury]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040322/D81F67LG0.html

Israeli Air Strike Kills Hamas Founder


Mar 21, 10:56 PM (ET)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli helicopters fired missiles at Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin as he left a mosque near his house at daybreak Monday, residents said, and witnesses said he was killed.

Witnesses said Israeli helicopters fired three missiles at Yassin and two bodyguards as they left the mosque, killing them instantly. Hamas officials confirmed he had been killed.

Yussef Haddad, 35, a taxi driver, said he saw the missiles hit Yassin and the bodyguards.

"Their bodies were shattered," he said.

Yassin, a quadriplegic, was by far the most senior Palestinian militant killed in more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Hundreds of angry Palestinians gathered around his minutes after the attack, calling for revenge against Israel.

Ambulances and fire trucks raced to the scene with sirens wailing, and rescue workers were gathering up body parts of the shattered bodies.

Yassin founded Hamas in 1987. He was held in Israeli prisons for several years before being released in 1994.

In September 2002, Yassin escapes Israeli missile strike on Gaza building with a small wound on his hand.

 

[kcmcdonald]

I saw this when i loged on today. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending. This will only anger the militants more but it will also ensure that no member will openly defy the Israelies again. Look for the "Intafada(sp?)" to pick up. I'm glad Isreal was able to kill a top comander but this guy it sounds like was a symbolic figure head and not the commander of Hammas.