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| Middle East |
| Shehadeh: The Obituary |
| 2002-07-23 |
| Described by Israel as the Gaza Strip's "most brilliant and brutal terrorist," Salah Shehadeh spent more than a decade in Israeli and Palestinian jails, and for the last three years was often in hiding as he oversaw Hamas' frequent attacks. The bearded Shehadeh, 48, was killed when an Israeli warplane destroyed the Gaza City apartment where he was staying, taking the lives of 14 other Palestinians, most of them children. I wonder if they knew the kiddies were there, or if they just didn't care? My guess would be that they knew there would be civilian casualties, and hoped they weren't going to be high, but went ahead with the attack when they got a confirm as to his location. He was just too important to pass up... Shehadeh was the leader of Hamas' military wing, Izzadine al-Qassem, the group that has carried out the largest number of suicide attacks, including the deadliest ones, in the current Palestinian uprising. Israeli security sources described Shehadeh as deeply religious, a fervent supporter of suicide bombings and said he had been a possible successor to Hamas' spiritual leader Sheik Ahmad Yassin. Yassin's also the head of Hamas, though there are four others in its "politburo". He directly commanded the top Hamas militants, drafted the group's attack policies against Israel and upgraded Hamas fighting capability by introducing locally produced mortars, which have been fired at Israeli settlements, so far with little effect. He was at the top of the army's terrorist wanted list. Which is why they went ahead and banged him. Israeli military intelligence described Shehadeh as a star pupil at the high school in Gaza City's Beach Refugee Camp, which he attended before going on to study social work in Alexandria, Egypt. After his return to Gaza he attended the Islamic University, became active in Islamic politics and joined the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. Shortly after the December 1987 outbreak of the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, Shehadeh, along with Yassin and several other brotherhood members, founded Hamas. Which is why he's this year's major kill. They got a member of the politburo. Only four to go. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 There will be no peace without freedom, support land for peace, or else there will be more 'Saruman' to fried and buses to smack |
| Posted by: Salim Rusli 2004-3-22 8:04:34 AM |
| #1 Hopefully they'll pop "Saruman" Yassin soon, too... |
| Posted by: BarCodeKing 2002-07-23 09:11:27 |