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Palestinians Say Israel Attempted to Assassinate Political Leader
RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank, Aug 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel launched a rocket attack against a top official of the Fatah occupation resistance movement of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat Saturday, stepping up its policy of assassinating Palestinians seen as a threat to the Jewish occupation of Muslim and Arab land, news agencies said.
Israeli occupation forces fired missiles at the three convoy of Marwan Barghuti, Fatah secretary general in the West Bank, as he was leaving his offices in Ramallah, Barghuti and witnesses told AFP.
When asked if he thought he had been targeted by the Israelis, he replied: "Yes, of course".
Barghuti, 42, escaped the assassination attempt unharmed and vowed to escalate the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, in response to the "new crime".
Barghuti, who is also a member of the Palestinian legislative council, is accused by the Israelis of being one of the key figures behind the 10-month Palestinian uprising.
Another Fatah occupation resistance activist also wanted by the Israelis, Mohanad Abu Halawa, was in the lead car when the missiles were fired, Barghuti said.
The first rocket missed the vehicle, and Abu Halawa escaped with burns before a second missile destroyed it. The other cars sped off and escaped.
Two people, thought to be residents of the apartment block where the Fatah office is located, were said to be slightly injured in the blast.
It was not immediately clear if the attack was launched by helicopter gunships or from tanks positioned in the Jewish settlement in Al-Bireh, on the edge of Ramallah. The occupation forces made no immediate comment on the attack.
Barghuti warned the attack would not go unanswered.
"This is a new crime after the massacre at Nablus. It is clear this is all-out war. They are trying to silence the fires of the intifada. But our response will be to escalate the resistance," Barghuti told AFP just after the attack.
The attack came only four days after an Israeli helicopter attacked the offices of the
occupation resistance Islamic group Hamas in the West Bank town of Nablus killing six Hamas members, including two senior officials.
Tuesday's attack also left two young boys dead.
Israel came in for sharp international criticism for the Nablus attack but said it would stick to its policy of targeting Palestinian occupation resistance activists it believes are planning to carry out more bomb attacks.
It said it has the right to defend itself from activists plotting attacks on its citizens, and accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to make good on promises to crack down on Palestinians planning resistance attacks, which Israel and its allies describe as terrorist, from territory it controls.
The Fatah leader in Jerusalem, Ahmed Ghnueim, said the attack showed that the radical Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was "losing his balance."
"He's trying to convince the radical right that he is doing all he can to stop the intifada. He is targeting children, political leaders, and bombarding institutions, hoping that by doing so he can succeed," he said.
Ghnueim said the essence of the problem remained Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory occupied by Israeli in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
"Once the occupation goes everything will be okay. But they must know the Palestinian people will still be there despite all these assassinations and killing and destruction," he stressed.
Palestinian legislative council speaker Ahmed Qorei warned in an interview published in the daily Al-Ayaam that Israel was pursuing a high-risk strategy of "escalating the situation gradually, according to a systematic and organized plan."
He said the tactic was particularly dangerous as it could drive the Palestinian Authority underground.
"The Israelis should understand the Palestinian Authority is not a sovereign international entity. Rather the Palestinian Authority is still an arm of resistance," he told the daily.
He said Palestinian institutions "could go underground" if the Israelis continue their hardline policy, though he did not say if this would involve armed resistance.
Before the Ramallah attack, Israeli Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit had cautioned against any large-scale military response out of proportion to the "war of attrition" he said the Palestinians were waging.
"To launch a full-out war against the Palestinian Authority would be a terrible mistake," said Sheetrit, a member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud party and of the security cabinet.
"We have to do everything possible to put a stop to terrorism without setting off a real war," Sheetrit said.
The conflict has cost 687 lives, including 540 Palestinians and 128 Israelis, since erupting in September.
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