Israel marks Hamas leader for death following suicide attack

JERUSALEM — A senior Israeli official warned that the founder of the Islamic militant group Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was "marked for death," but he and other officials later said Friday that any decision to kill Yassin would need approval from the prime minister.

Yassin, a quadriplegic, appeared in public on Friday and scoffed at the official's warnings. "We do not fear the threat of death," said Yassin, wrapped in a brown blanket as an assistant pushed his wheelchair to a Gaza City mosque.

Israeli security officials met earlier this week at the Defense Ministry to weigh a response to Wednesday's Hamas bombing in Gaza, in which a female suicide attacker killed four Israeli soldiers. One Israeli official said targeted killings of senior Hamas members are likely to resume, after a lull of several months.

Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim went even further, naming Yassin as a target for assassination. But he later softened his comments, saying no specific decision was made at Wednesday's meeting to kill Yassin.

Israel has assassinated a number of Hamas commanders — but killing the Islamic movement's spritual leader, respected even by many Palestinians who do not support Hamas, would be a dramatic escalation and likely provoke revenge bombings.

Since the peace process began, Israel has refrained from targeting the very top of the Palestinian leadership. It has threatened to "remove" Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a wording that suggested it would either exile or kill him. But it has refrained from doing either, in part because of U.S. opposition, and has instead kept Arafat isolated in his Ramallah offices.

Yassin spoke to reporters outside the mosque, saying, "We will not bow to pressure and resistance will continue until the occupation is destroyed."

He said he was not personally involved in planning attacks, denying allegations by Israeli security officials that he had approved Wednesday's bombing in which a female suicide bomber killed four Israelis at the Erez crossing into Israel.

Israeli officials also said Yassin issued a religious ruling allowing women to become bombers, after Hamas initially recruited only male assailants.

Late Thursday, after the security meeting at the Defense Ministry the previous day, Boim said Yassin is a key target.

"Sheik Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he won't know the difference between day and night. And we will find him in the tunnels, and we will eliminate him," Boim told Israel Army Radio.