Posted on 09/10/2003 3:06:49 AM PDT by Jim Noble
Filed at 5:13 a.m. ET
GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli warplane killed at least two Palestinians but narrowly failed in an attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader in Gaza Wednesday, a day after two suicide bombers killed 15 people in Israel.
The plane fired a missile at the home of Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of Hamas's top political officials, killing his eldest son and a bodyguard, as a new wave of tit-for-tat violence drowned a dying U.S.-backed peace plan in blood.
Zahar was standing in the doorway of his house at the time of the strike and was thrown clear by the force of the explosion, witnesses said. He sustained only slight injuries to his head and back but his wife was seriously hurt, medics said.
Thousands of angry Hamas supporters took to the streets of Gaza chanting for revenge. Some fired guns in the air as others clawed through the rubble of Zahar's two-story home.
It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes against Hamas leaders since a suicide bombing killed 22 people on a Jerusalem bus last month.
``We condemn this crime. It will only lead to fueling the cycle of violence,'' Yasser Abed Rabbo, a Palestinian cabinet minister, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Two Palestinian suicide bombings Tuesday provoked Israeli threats to put Yasser Arafat in ``solitary confinement'' at his West Bank compound, cutting him off from the outside world.
Israeli officials indicated that proposals to re-impose a tight siege on the Palestinian president, who has been largely confined to his battered headquarters for nearly two years, are under close consideration as an alternative to exiling him.
Israel holds Arafat responsible for Tuesday's bombings, which followed a spate of Israeli air strikes on militants and dealt shattering blows to the U.S.-backed peace plan. Arafat has always denied being behind such attacks.
A bomber killed seven people in a cafe in Jerusalem on Tuesday, five hours after eight soldiers died in the bombing of a bus stop outside a military base near Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cut short his visit to India and planned to fly home Wednesday. He told reporters after the first blast that it was ``a reminder how terrorism must be fought, everywhere and with all means.''
In an apparent claim of responsibility, the military wing of the militant Hamas movement said: ``We say to the Zionists it is the payback time for your daily crimes against the Palestinian people and we are abandoning words for...revenge.''
Israel stoked Hamas anger by trying to kill its spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in an air attack in Gaza City on Saturday. The wheelchair-bound Yassin was slightly wounded.
THREATS AGAINST ARAFAT
Some Israeli ministers have called in recent days for Israel to oust Arafat from the region, but key security officials have warned it would backfire by engendering international sympathy and allowing him to visit world leaders.
Sharon has blocked such moves in the past, citing U.S. opposition.
Officials have suggested that Israel could encircle Arafat's compound with tanks again as it did last year during a major ground offensive, cut the phone lines, disrupt mobile phone communications and prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
On his return, Sharon planned to hold high-level security consultations, and Arafat's fate was expected to be discussed.
The attacks came amid turmoil in the Palestinian Authority, which Israel accused of failing to rein in militants.
Ahmed Qurie, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's nominee for prime minister, called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to end the bloodshed frustrating peace efforts. Qurie said he would not accept the post if Israel kept attacking militants.
Eyal Schneider, 21, said he had been walking near the bus stop outside the sprawling Tzrifin army base near Tel Aviv on Tuesday when he heard someone in a group of waiting soldiers shout ``terrorist attack,'' and the bomb went off.
``I ran back to try to help the wounded. There was smoke everywhere and people were screaming and crying,'' he said.
Hours later, an explosion shattered the glass exterior of Cafe Hillel in Jewish west Jerusalem. Besides the dead, 60 people were injured, medics said.
One witness said the bomber shouted ``Allahu Akbar'' (God is great) and detonated his explosives as private guards stationed at the cafe's entrance tried to push him away.
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