March 23, 2004
By Ibrahim Barzak
Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a hardliner who opposes even a temporary truce with Israel, is emerging as a Hamas strongman in the Palestinian areas after the assassination of the group's founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

However, Rantisi, a 54-year-old pediatrician, is not expected to replace Yassin or take over the group. Since its creation in 1987, Hamas has been run largely as a collective of senior activists in Gaza and the Arab world, with Yassin in a key role as ideologue, spiritual leader and strategist.

Hamas leaders said that while the killing of Yassin is a blow to morale, it would not hamper the group's operations, including its ability to carry out attacks. Hamas is pledged to Israel's destruction.

"Hamas will continue in the same way Sheik Yassin taught us. Hamas has its infrastructure, its institutions," Ismail Hanieh, a top Yassin aide, said as Hamas leaders formed a reception line at a Gaza City soccer stadium Monday night to greet thousands of mourners.

Hamas is secretive about its organization, though the broad outlines are known.

General policy is set by the political bureau, headed by Khaled Mashaal, who is based in Damascus, Syria. Other members of the bureau include several Hamas leaders in the Arab world, as well as Rantisi, Hanieh and Mahmoud Zahar in Gaza.

The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, plans and carries out attacks on Israelis. It is headed by two shadowy figures, Mohammed Deif and Adnan al-Ghoul, who top Israel's wanted list and have been operating from hiding for years.

It remains unclear how much autonomy the military wing has in deciding on the timing and target of attacks, and to what extent it is directed by the political bureau.

Israel said Yassin personally approved many of the hundreds of Hamas attacks it said killed 377 Israelis and wounded more than 2,000 over the years.

"He (Yassin) preached, advocated and served as source of inspiration and planning of murderous attacks," the Israeli army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said Tuesday.

All top Hamas members are pledged to Israel's destruction. However, within the group, there are different views on how to reach the objective. Palestinian analysts said Yassin led the more pragmatic wing of Hamas.

In recent interviews, Yassin said his group is ready to participate in elections after an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and stop firing homemade rockets at Israel. "He (Yassin) was a moderating factor," said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at the West Bank university of Bir Zeit.

Yassin and Hanieh also kept in close touch with the Palestinian Authority, despite fierce rivalries, to try to work out an arrangement with the Palestinian Authority on how to run Gaza after an Israeli pullback.

The Hamas hardliners are led by Rantisi and Mahmoud Zahar, another Gaza City physician. Rantisi rejects any compromise with Yasser Arafat's government.

Last summer, he was one of the most vocal opponents to Hamas' decision to halt attacks on Israel temporarily.

In the charged climate after Yassin's assassination, the hardliners were expected to take a more prominent role. Rantisi is popular among young Hamas activists, and on Monday delivered Yassin's eulogy.

Rantisi spoke at length, making much of his relationship with Yassin -- they once shared an Israeli prison cell for several months -- and left the impression he was assuming the mantle of heir.

Referring to Yassin, Rantisi said: "We are the ones who gave their commitment to God and to you, and to continue the holy war in the service of God."

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