Share
Email
PrintHamas leaders go underground
Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have gone into hiding for fear they could be targeted for assassination by Israel.
Ismail Haniyeh, the top Hamas politician in Gaza, and the commander of the Islamist group’s terrorist operations, Ahmed Jaabari, disappeared from public view this week, Palestinian sources said Monday.
The move appeared to be a response to Israel’s decision to step up airstrikes and other pinpoint military operations against Hamas following its cross-border rocket salvos.
Israeli security sources said there is an extensive “hit list” of Hamas members involved in the fighting but that politicians are unlikely to be attacked at this stage.
Israel is reluctant to escalate confrontations to a point that would prompt Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to abandon peace talks. It is also mindful of the fate of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas-led gunmen in Gaza.
This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.
Discussions About this Article Elsewhere
Comments RSS Feed Reader Comments
There are currently no comments to this article. Leave a comment below.
Leave a Comment
To comment on this article, you must first be registered with JTA.
Not Registered?
There are real advantages to a FREE registration with JTA.org:
- Make your voice heard through comments on articles
- Receive our e-mailed Daily Briefing, an invaluable quick-read
- Help decide what Jewish news matters most with interactive tools
Register Now
Already a JTA member?
- IDF salutes Palestinian security forces
- Op-Ed: Israel backers must support a settlement freeze
- Egypt arrests 26 planning Suez attacks
- Op-Ed: Palestinians’ plight, Holocaust are not analogous
- JDL members arrested in Paris
- Satmar mayor praises Obama
- Harvard Hillel victim of $780,000 fraud
- ORTs settle name dispute
- The Chosen: Jewish members in the 111th U.S. Congress
- Jackson kids’ Jewish mother could regain custody
- Biden: Israel can decide for itself on Iran
- Guard shot at Holocaust museum dies
- Canadian politician sues Jewish groups
- In endorsing two states, Netanyahu adopts popular Jewish position
- Some Jewish settlers turning against Israel
- Mass converts pose dilemma for Latin American Jews
Trackback URL: http://jta.org/trackback/106906/
No trackbacks have been created for this article, be the first to create one.