Throngs Mourn Hamas Leader

Tens of thousands of Palestinians crowded the dusty streets here on Sunday to mourn the death of Hamas leader Abdulaziz Rantisi in a missile strike as Israel promised more such attacks on those it regards as terrorists.

Punctuated by chanting and occasional gunfire, the angry funeral procession was similar in size and tone to that of Rantisi’s predecessor, Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was slain in a similar airstrike less than a month earlier.

Once again, Hamas promised to strike hard at Israel in revenge. Amid extraordinarily tight Israeli security after the Yassin assassination, the group did not carry out any significant attacks, spurring some to wonder if, in spite of its fiery rhetoric, it had lost some of its capability for organizing large-scale retaliation.

Hamas stalwarts insisted that Rantisi’s killing would not hobble the organization. Mourners lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and at President Bush, saying that despite American denials, they believed that the United States had approved the killing in advance.

The attack on Rantisi appeared to strengthen Sharon’s hand, giving him new momentum in the campaign to persuade members of his Likud Party to back his plan to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four others in the West Bank. Sharon still faces opposition, but on Sunday, he won the backing of two important swing votes: Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Limor Livnat.

Before withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials hope to weaken Hamas, and Israel promised after the Yassin assassination that it would target the entire Hamas leadership.

Sharon on Sunday said he would continue a policy of “hitting the terrorist organizations and their leaders.”

A Hamas spokesman said the group had chosen a new leader to replace Rantisi -- a 56-year-old physician who was known for his hard-line views toward Israel -- but was keeping the identity secret for security reasons.

On the streets of Gaza, a group of Palestinian women chanted, “Revenge! Revenge!” from the entrance of a shopping center. Hamas fighters in military-style fatigues carried Rantisi’s flag-wrapped body along a packed commercial street toward the city’s largest mosque.

Joining the procession were squads of masked gunmen and young boys wearing the green headband of Hamas, a movement founded by Yassin in 1987 that rejects Israel’s existence.

Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Zahar insisted that his organization remained potent, despite the loss of two of its best-known leaders in a month’s time. He said the Yassin killing had sparked an unprecedented wave of donations to Hamas, which is popular on the streets of the Gaza Strip for its schools and social-service programs.

“Israel tried to suppress [Hamas]. They used all aggression ... but still Hamas is stronger and gaining more power,” he said.

Zahar was mentioned among the possible successors to Rantisi. Asked if he had been named to the post, Zahar declined to comment.

The latest killing drew criticism from some European countries and fierce protests from Palestinian officials. The Palestinian Authority foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, said the assassination made it impossible to move forward with peace talks with Israel. Demonstrations broke out in cities across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Rantisi replaced Yassin a day after the cleric was assassinated March 22 while leaving a mosque in his wheelchair. Rantisi lacked the wide popular following of Yassin, who was the movement’s spiritual leader, and he spent most of his short tenure as Hamas leader in hiding.

But that did not appear to have diminished the public outpouring. Throngs of mourners filled the streets as Rantisi’s body was carried from the hospital where he was declared dead Saturday night to his family’s home, then to the mosque for midday prayers and finally along the three-mile walk to the same cemetery where Yassin was buried last month.

Many rushed forward to toss green leaves in tribute or to touch Rantisi’s face, gray and pocked with shrapnel wounds.

Mourners denounced Sharon as the “head of the snake.” Palestinians also were angered by Bush’s watershed endorsement last week of Sharon’s plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, a declaration that included recognition of Israeli claims to retain large settlement blocs in the West Bank. About 7,500 Jewish settlers now live in the Gaza Strip among about 1.3 million Palestinians.

“There is no peace. Anyone who is calling for peace should be put to death,” said Shadi Sharif, a Palestinian police officer. “Palestine will not be liberated if we keep talking about peace and not fighting. The only way to liberate Palestine is to fight and eliminate stupid words.”

Hamas depicts the proposed Israeli withdrawal as a victory for its military resistance, an image the Israelis are eager to dispel before exiting. One way to do that is to hammer the group’s leadership so that it can no longer organize major attacks. Hamas is responsible for a large share of the more than 100 suicide bombings against Israelis during the 42-month intifada.

Palestinians said Hamas would keep fighting.

“Hamas will be stronger,” said a 27-year-old militant of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group tied loosely to the separate Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

“If they kill a leader, they will create 10 leaders,” said the young militant. “It will not hurt Hamas.”

Rantisi’s younger brother, Salah, said the Hamas leader had taken pains to remain out of view so that Israel could not make good on its promise to wipe out the Hamas leadership.

He said his older brother kept his whereabouts secret even from his family and tried to stay ahead of Israeli forces by switching cars frequently. On Saturday, Abdulaziz Rantisi left the family home with his son, but transferred to another car soon after leaving, Salah Rantisi said in an interview.

“He knew that he was in danger,” Salah Rantisi said.

Despite the measures, Israel found its quarry Saturday night, firing missiles that killed Rantisi and two bodyguards.