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| Israel-Palestine | ||||
| Who's next? Israel's Most Wanted | ||||
| 2004-03-24 | ||||
The order of priorities on Israel's shadowy list of most-wanted militants can be altered in an instant, shifting in response to major terror attacks, anxiety or ire from Washington, the emotional winds of the Israeli public, and chance opportunities to strike at certain figures. This week the list changed shape again, with the assassination of the man at its top, Hamas founder and overall leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
In one stroke, another crucial element of the Middle East equation was shaken. Yassin's standing as the founder and overall leader of a powerful, well-armed, and violent movement has sparked fears that the spiral of military escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will now apply to assassinations as well, with Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah all potential targets. In frank imitation - and contempt - of the U.S. campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, Hamas on Tuesday began handing out playing cards showing Israeli officials whom it said would be targeted. Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz have been prominently mentioned. Moreover, in an effort to stress that all Jewish Israeli politicians are fair game, the image of leading Israeli dove Yossi Sarid - arguably Sharon's most consistently vociferous critic - also appeared on the cards. "This shows how little Hamas differentiates between Israeli figures," says Haaretz Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein. "From the standpoint of Hamas, they're all in the same boat."
At this point, after well over 100 Palestinians have been killed in targeted assassinations since the beginning of the intifada, who heads the list of Israel's most-wanted? Given the fluidity of the myriad of considerations that go into its composition, the list is difficult to pinpoint, but among the likely candidates are the following, according to Haaretz military correspondent Amos Harel. -- Hamas co-founder and current Gaza leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, 56. A pediatrician by profession and until the Yassin killing, the movement's chief spokesman, Rantisi was the leader of the more than 400 Islamic militants exiled to Lebanon in late 1992 by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Missile-firing IAF helicopters struck his car last June, but he survived with a leg wound. -- Hamas Gaza military wing commander Mohammed Deif, about 40, suicide bombing mastermind and heir to pioneer Hamas bomb maker Yihya Ayyash, who was assassinated by Israel in 1996 with a bomb-rigged mobile phone. Until the current wave of attacks against the leaders of Hamas's higher-ranking political and religious echelons, Deif had been Israel's most-wanted fugitive for years. The survivor of at least five IDF assassination attempts, was seriously wounded and may have lost an eye in a September 2002 air strike in which two militants riding in his car were killed. -- Senior Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah Shami , target of an air strike last October, two weeks after the Jihad sent a woman suicide bomber to attack the Maxim restaurant in Haifa, killing 21 people. In the IAF attack, a missile fired at Shami's house missed its target, destroying the neighboring structure and wounding a number of its residents. -- Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Zahar, in his 50s, a surgeon by profession, a senior official of the political echelon and second only to Rantisi as spokesman for the movement. In September last year, IAF warplanes dropped a bomb on Zahar's home, killing his son and a bodyguard, lightly wounding Zahar in the leg as he stood at the front door. Some 25 others were injured in the strike, including Zahar's wife and daughter. -- Ismail Haniyeh, about 40, former head of Yassin's office. A leader of Hamas's political echelon, he was injured in an air strike last year that had Yassin as its target. In the past, Israel jailed Haniyeh for three years for running Hamas's security wing. -- Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal. Currently based in Syria and viewed as beyond Israel's reach for the moment. The botched 1997 attempt on Mashaal's life threatened Israel's diplomatic relations with Jordan. The incident forced the Netanyahu government to release its highest-ranking security prisoner, Sheikh Yassin, in negotiations brokered by the then-infrastructure minister, Ariel Sharon. -- Deputy political bureau head Moussa Abu Marzouk, also based in Syria. U.S. authorities detained Abu Marzouk in 1995 on suspicion of having set up and used ostensible charities in the United States in order to mobilize financial and political support for Hamas. U.S. authorities deported him to Jordan in 1997. Last year, the U.S. government designated Abu Marzouk as a Special Designated Global Terrorist Entity, along with Yassin, Rantisi, and Mashaal, freezing their assets and barring financial transactions with them. -- Hamas weapons explosives and manufacturing director Adnan al-Roul -- Sheikh Ibrahim Hamed , head of the Hamas military wing in Ramallah. -- Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, based in Damascus. Heir to Islamic Jihad chief Fathi Shkaki, who was gunned down by Mossad agents in Malta in 1995. In 2002, a British report said that Sharon had ordered the Mossad to move Shalah to the top of its hit list.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Man, the IDF sure misses a lot. They've already tried multiple times for almost every target on this list. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-03-25 1:17:12 AM |
| #6 My pick. Rantisi. Number one with a bullet (or a missile) |
| Posted by: Denny 2004-03-24 10:25:09 PM |
| #5 On my planet Oxygen theft is a capital crime. |
| Posted by: Marvin 2004-03-24 2:27:19 PM |
| #4 has sparked fears that the spiral of military escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will now apply to assassinations as well whata maroon! As I read the list, they've already tried to hit almost everyone on the list. They are just getting better at it now. I suppose the "downward sprial" meme allows them to avoid having to acknowledge the obvious. |
| Posted by: B 2004-3-24 10:53:41 AM |
| #3 What? Where's Saab Erakat? Boy, given my druthers, he'd be on the list! Okay, okay, I know he's just a spokesidjit, but he really really pisses me off. I hope we get him in a two-fer when he's gathering the thoughts of one of the real killers so he can spew on CNNBBCABCCBSNBC. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-24 10:39:58 AM |
| #2 Moreover, in an effort to stress that all Jewish Israeli politicians are fair game, the image of leading Israeli dove Yossi Sarid - arguably Sharon's most consistently vociferous critic - also appeared on the cards. The probable apologist-for-terrorists reply would be rather Spain-like: "No, Sarid is a target now only because of the killing of Yassin." |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-24 10:35:03 AM |
| #1 The Israeli's, of all people, should not be discriminating like this. Hit 'em all. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-3-24 10:34:06 AM |