Israel could target Hamas leaders, including Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh, if the militant group renews attacks in the Jewish state, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday.
"No one there is immune, not just Ismail Haniyeh," Mofaz told Army Radio in response to a question about whether Israel regarded him as a target for assassination.
"The moment Hamas chooses the path of terror, there is no question here of political or non-political [leadership]. This would be a terrorist leadership, and therefore none of its members would be immune," Mofaz said.
Mofaz's remarks, three weeks before Israel's March 28 general election, echoed recent comments by interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security advisers.
Olmert heads the centrist Kadima party, to which Mofaz belongs, and both men have been taking a tough public line on security as election day approaches.
Mofaz told Israel's Army Radio that Israel's policy of targeted killings has proven to be effective, and will continue.
Salah al-Bardawil, a Hamas spokesman, denounced Mofaz's comments.
"This statement and Israeli practices on the ground reflect the bloody, inhumane and inflammatory character of the Zionist enemy," al-Bardawil said.
"We are not seeking immunity or mercy from Israel. We are in a confrontation. The side that is most steadfast is the side that will survive," she said.
Hamas headed into a domestic confrontation on Monday by stripping Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of powers his then-ruling Fatah Party granted him in its last session.
Fatah delegates walked out of parliament in protest, charging that Hamas was twisting the rules to nullify Abbas' additional authority. They planned to extend their protest yesterday by boycotting the parliamentary session, a Fatah official said.
The Hamas-Fatah conflict has been simmering since Hamas swept Fatah out of office in January, winning 74 seats in the new parliament to Fatah's 45.
Azzam al-Ahmed, Fatah's parliamentary faction leader, said yesterday that Fatah would file suit against Hamas in the Palestinian Supreme Court in the course of the day.
"They used their majority to infringe the law on behalf of their interests, and we are resorting now to the judiciary to help us protect the law," al-Ahmed said.
Some legal experts say Abbas has the authority to cancel Hamas' action on Monday, a move that would perpetuate the standoff.
Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in an election in January and his term has three years to run, regardless of the makeup of the parliament.
Meanwhile an airstrike on Monday killed two Islamic Jihad militants and three other people in the Gaza Strip, one an eight-year-old boy, Palestinian witnesses said.
The Israeli army confirmed the strike on a car carrying the two militants.
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