Hamas Vows To Pursue Suicide Attacks

September 25, 2002

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Hamas will continue to send suicide bombers to Israel in defiance of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's renewed call for such attacks to stop and has no fear of an Israeli plan to invade the Gaza Strip, a top Hamas official said Wednesday.

Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas Politburo, said the 2-year-old "intifada and resistance in all its forms including the martyrdom operations" will continue.

Mashaal, speaking during a news conference in Damascus, defended suicide operations as "a legitimate right" for the Palestinians people.

Arafat, who has been isolated in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah along with some 200 aides, refused to surrender to the Israeli forces but called for halting suicide attacks.

Israel surrounded Arafat's compound, and demolished several buildings around the headquarters itself, in response to two suicide bombing attacks last week. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have claimed responsibility for most of the suicide operations that targeted Israel in recent months.

Referring to a reported plan by Israel to invade the Gaza Strip in order to uproot Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Mashaal said "we have no fears and the resistance will be cautious and will take precautions."

"It is an open battle and will end with the victory of our people," he said.

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