One month after Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin was assassinated by the Israeli government, his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, was killed in another operation by Israel, the latest in a policy of assassination that began a year ago.
In retaliation, Hamas vowed “one hundred unique retaliations” (www.iht.com, April 19). One way Hamas is fighting back is through greater collaboration with other Mideast terrorist organizations in retaliation against Israel’s assassination policy.
The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah pledged its support when its leader said to the head of Hamas, “Consider us in Hezbollah … members of Hamas and soldiers under your command” (Reuters, March 27).
The Washington Post reported that Yasser Arafat’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which was founded to compete with Hamas, is now collaborating with them: “The growing trend toward cooperation emerged just over a year ago … in a bid to combat the increasing success of Israeli forces in targeting, killing or capturing militant leaders and their operatives” (April 2). We can expect this cooperation between terrorist groups to redouble as Israel continues to assassinate their leaders.
What’s more, “Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is prepared to include Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a new leadership organization that would function alongside the Palestinian Authority, senior pa officials said …” (Jerusalem Post, April 7).
Not only is the Palestinian government not taking steps to stop terrorism, it wants to include the terrorists in the governing process.