Israel and Hamas Vows Vengeance

The tension in the Middle East further increased as Palestinian resistance group Hamas fired several rockets at Israeli targets in Gaza in retaliation to the assassination of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin (66) who was killed by the Israeli military.

Despite condemnation from the international society regarding Yassin’s assassination, the Israeli government announced that it will press ahead with targeted attacks.

Hezbollah guerrillas in the south of Lebanon fired attacks on the Israeli military outposts inside the disputed Chebaa Farms area near the border of Lebanon on Monday. They attacked Israel again for the first time in five months and have pushed the conflict between the two nations to Lebanon.

Waving the green flag representative of Hamas’ color, more than 200,000 Palestinians gathered in Gaza this day and shouted revenge saying, “We will get revenge for every drop of blood that Yassin spilled.” However, an Israeli security official said on the condition of anonymity that Israel will try to kill the entire Hamas leadership, striking whenever an opportunity presents itself, AP news reported on March 23.

Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the military operation saying, “By killing Yassin, the mastermind of Palestine’s terrorist has been rid” and added, “The fight against terror will continue.”

In a statement, Hamas urged “all Muslims in the world to join in on the retaliation for this crime,” and also threatened to take revenge on the U.S., the supporter for Israel.

It is highly likely that meetings and conferences for peace settlement in the Middle East will be delayed or canceled due to this incident.

President Hosni Mubarak canceled a trip by Egyptian legislators and dignitaries to Israel to mark the 25th anniversary of the peace treaty between the two countries as a protest against Yassin’s assignation.

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com