Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, whose Palestinian militant group sends suicide bombers into Israel, knows that Israel has him targeted again. And the leader of the Damascus-based political bureau of Hamas is taking no chances.
| "Dey'll never get me! Never! Hahahahaha!" |
"We are in a state of alert and vigilance," he told The Associated Press this week during a visit to Cairo from his home base in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
"Guido! We're goin' to the mattresses!"
"Hokay, boss! But my name's Mahmoud!" |
Since Hamas suicide bombings killed 16 Israelis in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Aug. 31, Israeli officials began focusing their warnings on Syria and the Hamas leaders like Mashaal who are based in Damascus. Hamas officials say all attacks are planned and carried out by operatives in the Palestinian territories. In recent years, Israel has killed top Hamas leaders in the West Bank and Gaza. Just how effective these assassinations have been is not clear. New leaders readily moved to fill the vacuum, but the secrecy and security-dictated restrictions on movements under which they are forced to operate to stay alive is bound to have an effect.
| It's amazing how that works when you begin bumping off the "political wing"... |
Yoni Fighel, of the Israeli Institute for Counter-Terrorism, said the Israeli campaign against Hamas is making a difference. "The group has to deal with its survival as well as launching attacks," he said. However, Fighel said, the assassinations have not influenced "the consciousness of (Hamas members) to the extent that they would be afraid to carry out attacks."
| That's okay. They've only got to influence Meshaal to the extent that he's afraid to order attacks... |
Syrian political analyst Ahmed al-Haj Ali disagrees. "Threats will only provoke the resistance to look for new ways to fight and new people for martyrdom," he said.
| Six or seven dead bigwigs down the road, the head cheeses will be sending the gunnies out to stop the attacks as a matter of self-preservation... |
In a May interview, Mashaal shrugged off Israeli claims they have crippled the organization. "The history of the people shows that the passing of leaders strengthens the spirit of resistance and does not weaken it."
| "Attacks are down for... ummm... other reasons." |
After the Beersheba bombings, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the deadliest attack in Israel in nearly a year was carried out on direct orders from Hamas leaders in Damascus. A senior adviser, Raanan Gissin, has said neither Hamas nor Syria was "immune" to an Israeli strike. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Syria's support for terrorists "will have very clear consequences." |