Israel Kills Hamas Leader, Casts Doubts Over Peace
Shortly afterwards, dozens of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles rushed to the scene and prevented Palestinians from approaching him.
Israel claimed that Qawasmeh was the mastermind for at least five operations on Israel, including the June 11 bombing of a bus in Al-Quds that claimed 16 lives.
Qawasmeh is a father of six children and was frequently detained by Israeli troops and served time in the jails of the Palestinian Authority. After the eruption of the second Intifada in September 2000, Israel launched a sweeping manhunt operation to arrest him.
The killing appeared to fall in line with Israel’s policy of assassinating cadres of Palestinian resistance groups, which has already resulted in the deaths of at least 100 Palestinians since the Intifada erupted in September 2000, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) account.
But it seems as if Israel felt free to employ hardball tactics with Hamas after the brief visit of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Friday, June 20, as he declared Hamas as an enemy of peace and told Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmmoud Abbas he should not wait for the Islamic resistance movement to sign a truce deal before moving ahead with the U.S.-driven Middle East ‘roadmap.’
Meanwhile, a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops overnight near the Israeli settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said Sunday, June 22.
The man, whose body was still in the hands of the Israeli forces, was not identified.
