Israel targets Hamas leadership

Israel tightened its grip on the Gaza Strip today by sending in armoured vehicles 24 hours after killing the spiritual leader of Palestinian terror group Hamas in an air strike.

The Israeli cabinet has also agreed to target the entire Hamas leadership, according to security sources.

The assassinat ion of wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin yesterday prompted huge demonstrations in Gaza City and across the Arab world.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet decided to authorise the killing in response to a double suicide bombing last week, according to sources.

Defence minister Shaul Mofaz met security chiefs for five hours after yesterday's helicopter attack. Now they have reaffirmed the cabinet decision and decided to go after the entire Hamas leadership and strike whenever possible.

At least eight others died in the raid which was followed by a statement from Hamas saying Israel had "opened the gates of hell".

Within hours Israeli tanks moved into a zone 300 metres from a border fence between the Gaza Strip and its Negev region. Israel is in a state of national alert. In Jerusalem, streets were virtually deserted as residents withdrew in fear of reprisals. Shops and restaurants were empty and buses carried fewer passengers.

"Everyone knows that sooner or later something is going to happen. If not today, then tomorrow," said waitress Sheli Afriat, 22, at the Aroma Espresso Bar in the city centre.

"I'm very afraid," said Gimel Gorkovoi, 47. "I was near a bus that blew up several months ago. But what can I do? I have no other way to travel.

"The people who ordered this should have thought of the consequences. The only way to end the violence is to get out of the Palestinian areas. The French and British colonial powers understood this, but Israel refuses to learn the lessons of history."

Meanwhile, British troops in southern Iraq mounted a show of force today in a bid to avoid a repeat of mob violence that left 14 of them injured.

Soldiers in Basra were pelted with petrol bombs, stones and at least one explosive device in a riot yesterday. Three were today being treated for serious wounds after several were set on fire by petrol bombs.

British commanders praised them for their restraint during-the disorder, which they quelled with plastic bullets.

The riot was first linked to a protest over unemployment, but others said tempers were stoked by the death of Sheikh Yassin. Witnesses claimed that some in the crowd shouted: "We are all sons of Yassin."

Major Tim Smith, the British military spokesman in Basra, said none of the troops had life-threatening injuries.

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