Militant’s Death Fuels Ire in Gaza
Mourners fired assault rifles into the air and demanded revenge Friday after a car bomb killed a militia leader and a member of the security forces in what Palestinians say was the latest Israeli attack on prominent militants.
About 15,000 people marched in a funeral procession alongside the flag-draped bodies of Jihad Amareen, 48, the Gaza leader of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia affiliated with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, and Nael Namera, 27, a security forces lieutenant.
“This is another crime against the leaders of the Palestinian people,” said Nabil abu Rudaineh, an advisor to Arafat.
In the Gaza Strip, young men hoisted AK-47 rifles while children in Al Aqsa headbands held up pictures of Amareen and Namera. Amareen had resigned from the Palestinian security forces about nine months ago, frustrated by Arafat’s calls for an end to attacks on Israel. He then became the militia’s leader in the Gaza Strip.
In interviews published Friday, the outgoing Israeli army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, said Arafat should be expelled from the Middle East.
Mofaz told the Yediot Aharonot daily that Arafat is directing Palestinian terrorist attacks and has no intention of making peace. “As long as Arafat is here, we will not be able to reach an agreement,” Mofaz said, “and he will continue to promote terrorism.”
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