Hamas Leader's in Hiding as Israel Seeks Their Demise

Hamas leaders in hiding as noose tightens

President Mahmud Abbas (glasses) listens to Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, July 02. Hiding in friends' houses with their mobile phones switched off, Haniya and his ministers are behaving more like an underground organisation than an elected government.(AFP/File/Samuel Aranda)

Julu 4, 2006

by Beatriz Lecumberri

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hiding in friends' houses with their mobile phones switched off, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya and his ministers are behaving more like an underground organisation than an elected government.

"We are all taking extra precautions because of the Israeli threats. Our lives are in danger, just as the lives of all Palestinians have been in danger since the start of the occupation," information minister Yusef Rizqa told AFP.

Israel launched a massive onslaught against the Gaza Strip following the June 25 capture of an Israeli soldier by militant groups, including the armed wing of the governing Islamist movement Hamas.

And an air strike Sunday against Haniya's office in Gaza City sent many of Hamas's bigwigs scurrying into hiding.

Renouncing mobile phones for fear of being tracked down, changing vehicles several times a day, using different routes and avoiding routine appointments are some of the measures adopted by the movement's leaders, said a Hamas minister who asked not to be named.

"Many ministers cannot go to their office because they are afraid of being the target of a missile attack. Haniya asked us to step up all protective measures," he said.

He said Haniya as well as several key ministers and Hamas lawmakers had started sleeping in different locations every night because of the increased threat of Israeli assassination. Read more...