The command structure of Hamas after Rantissi
Ed Johns in Tel Aviv | 29.04.2004 12:06
After assassinating Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, and his successor, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, Israel now seems determined to wipe out the radical movement's entire leadership.
The death of the Hamas leader in the Palestinian Territories, Dr Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, in a helicopter gunship attack on 17 April, was the latest blow struck by Israel in what appears to be an unprecedented attempt to decapitate the radical Islamic movement ahead of the planned unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.
Many observers of Israeli security policy believe that the government of Ariel Sharon wants the withdrawal to be seen as Israeli victory, not as a Hamas triumph, and to eradicate the movement as a fighting force that will no longer threaten Israel.
Israeli security sources said that intelligence chiefs had decided that by granting effective immunity to Hamas leaders, and forcing only lower-level operatives to pay a price, it effectively encouraged the top leadership to be more audacious. The decision in mid-2003 to begin targeting the top leaders of Hamas may explain their agreement with Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives to endorse a limited, temporary ceasefire several months later.
After the death of Rantissi, no successor has been publicly named. Hamas recently announced on Lebanese television that a new leader had been appointed but his identity was kept secret to avoid making him a target for the Israelis. The most likely candidate was Mahmoud Zahar, a Cairo-trained physician and the last of the group led by Yassin that founded Hamas on 14 December 1987.
It is possible that some sort of collective 'internal' leadership in Gaza has been established, which could include Zahar, who had been considered Rantissi's deputy, and other senior Hamas figures such as Ismail Haniya, who served as Yassin's right-hand man for years and ran his office.
Other leaders could include long-time chieftains Said Siam, a teacher and former Yassin aide; Nizar Rian, an academic from Jabalya; and Ahmed Bahar, another of the founding generation, who administers some of the main social welfare charities in Gaza that Yassin had established.
However, the dominant authority in the movement is now undoubtedly Khaled Meshaal, a 48-year-old Kuwait-educated physicist. He is head of the Hamas political bureau, its key decision-making body, and with Yassin gone, Meshaal is free to pursue his policy of a military solution to the conflict with Israel.
The death of the Hamas leader in the Palestinian Territories, Dr Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, in a helicopter gunship attack on 17 April, was the latest blow struck by Israel in what appears to be an unprecedented attempt to decapitate the radical Islamic movement ahead of the planned unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.
Many observers of Israeli security policy believe that the government of Ariel Sharon wants the withdrawal to be seen as Israeli victory, not as a Hamas triumph, and to eradicate the movement as a fighting force that will no longer threaten Israel.
Israeli security sources said that intelligence chiefs had decided that by granting effective immunity to Hamas leaders, and forcing only lower-level operatives to pay a price, it effectively encouraged the top leadership to be more audacious. The decision in mid-2003 to begin targeting the top leaders of Hamas may explain their agreement with Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives to endorse a limited, temporary ceasefire several months later.
After the death of Rantissi, no successor has been publicly named. Hamas recently announced on Lebanese television that a new leader had been appointed but his identity was kept secret to avoid making him a target for the Israelis. The most likely candidate was Mahmoud Zahar, a Cairo-trained physician and the last of the group led by Yassin that founded Hamas on 14 December 1987.
It is possible that some sort of collective 'internal' leadership in Gaza has been established, which could include Zahar, who had been considered Rantissi's deputy, and other senior Hamas figures such as Ismail Haniya, who served as Yassin's right-hand man for years and ran his office.
Other leaders could include long-time chieftains Said Siam, a teacher and former Yassin aide; Nizar Rian, an academic from Jabalya; and Ahmed Bahar, another of the founding generation, who administers some of the main social welfare charities in Gaza that Yassin had established.
However, the dominant authority in the movement is now undoubtedly Khaled Meshaal, a 48-year-old Kuwait-educated physicist. He is head of the Hamas political bureau, its key decision-making body, and with Yassin gone, Meshaal is free to pursue his policy of a military solution to the conflict with Israel.
Ed Johns in Tel Aviv