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12.6.03

Palestine/Israel roundup: Israel, Hamas promise war against each other
Where to begin? The "road map", barring some kind of serious and immediate high-level intervention, looks like it has reached its end after about 72 hours of existence.

The Israeli army has been ordered to "completely wipe out" Hamas, according to an AFP report citing both Mofaz and Israeli Internal Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi.
The order, which directs the military to use "whatever means necessary," was issued following a meeting of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz with the army's top command shortly after the attack.

Everyone, "from the lowliest member to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin," a Hamas founder and its spiritual guide, is a legitimate target, the report said.

Emphasising the move Israeli Internal Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi warned Hamas leaders Thursday that not one of them was safe.
The report adds that two more Hamas members were killed late Wednesday night in an Israeli missile attack in Gaza.

Hamas has warned foreigners to leave Israel prior to what it says will be a new series of attacks.

Zeev Schiff reports that the US administration believes that Sharon broke a promise to Powell not to attempt to assassinate anyone except militants on their way to carry out attacks.
The American administration is now less interested in Palestinian terrorism and more in the question of why Ariel Sharon broke his promise, as they see it, to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

When Powell visited Israel last month, Sharon promised him not to carry out "targeted assassinations" as a punishment, but only in life threatening situations that could be called "ticking bombs."
In the US, some members of Congress and pro-Israel lobby groups have criticized Bush for his bland suggestion that maybe, just maybe, the idea to assassinate Rantissi was not the best idea in the world.


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