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Palestinian Resistance Groups Vow More Operations
JABALIA CAMP, Gaza Strip, May 26 (News Agencies) - Vowing to carry out more operations, Palestinian resistance groups on Saturday buried a martyr killed in a truck-bomb attack at an Israeli military post in the Gaza Strip.
Waving yellow, green and black flags and firing assault rifles into the air, around 1,500 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried the remains of Hamas member Hussein Abu Nasr to Jabalia refugee camp.
The member of Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades was killed early Friday when the bomb-laden truck he was driving exploded near a crossroads guarded by Israeli troops next to the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, south of Gaza City.
The Israeli army said the explosion did not cause any casualties among its troops.
"No alternative to bombings," the crowd chanted as they carried Abu Nasr's remains in a wood coffin to the mosque where he used to pray, and then to a plot at Martyrs' Cemetery.
"We will continue the bombings," they shouted.
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad have both staged operations against occupying Israelis.
"We will continue our war until we liberate Jerusalem," Hamas member Mohammed said during prayers at the mosque in Jabalia. "We have one target - kill Israelis from [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon all the way down to average Israelis."
He added: "God willing, these attacks will continue every day from the Islamic resistance and other groups."
Ayman, another Hamas member, said he used to join Abu Nasr for prayers at the mosque in this sprawling refugee camp of unpainted breezeblock homes. "Before he was a martyr, he was a good friend."
The latest threat follows a similar pledge made Friday by Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, whose group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility Friday for another blast in the northern Israel town of Hadera, in which two group members were killed and 12 Israelis wounded.
It was the first attack in Israel since Sharon declared a "ceasefire" Tuesday.
After the blast, Sharon vowed to maintain the ceasefire for "a few more days" to see if the Palestinians reciprocate.
Ismael Abu Shanab, a leader of the political wing of Hamas, told AFP in an interview last week that martyr operations gave the Palestinians a "balance of terror" against Israel's superior military force.
He said the killings of Israeli civilians were justified by the killing of Palestinian civilians.
Hamas says it has already carried out eight bombings in the eight-month Intifada and has promised two more, but the group has also said that it has would-be martyrs queuing up to attack the Israelis.
Islamic Jihad has carried out half a dozen such bombings.
"This kind of terror is planted by the Israelis themselves. Now they are reaping what their hands have planted," Abu Shanab said.
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