Hamas vows revenge for leader's assassination

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas threatened "100 unique reprisals" against Israel for killing its leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, as hundreds of thousands of mourners flooded the streets Sunday in a show of strength and fury.\nIt wasn't clear if the Islamic militant group was strong enough to carry out large-scale attacks after a sustained two-year Israeli campaign against it. Despite promises of revenge, Hamas still has not struck in the three weeks since Israel assassinated Rantisi's predecessor, Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.\nHamas chose a replacement for Rantisi Sunday but did not disclose his name -- a clear sign at least that the group is on the defensive in the face of Israeli attacks ahead of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.\nSharon Sunday picked up the support of key Cabinet ministers for his unilateral disengagement plan, including the Gaza withdrawal, assuring him of a Cabinet majority ahead of a hard-fought referendum among the 200,000 members of his Likud Party.\nSharon told the Cabinet Sunday he would forge ahead with his plan and continue to "hit the terror organizations and their leaders."\nCabinet minister Gideon Ezra said the overall Hamas leader, Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal, was also a target. Rantisi was in charge of the Palestinian areas and reported to Mashaal.\nThe killing of Rantisi set off demonstrations -- some of them violent -- across Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Arab countries.\nIn the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and critically wounded a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in a clash between stone throwers and soldiers.\nIsrael rebuffed international criticism, including several European countries. It said Rantisi -- like Yassin -- was targeted because he directed bloody Hamas attacks against Israelis and was planning more.\nHowever, many Palestinians held the United States responsible for Rantisi's death, saying it is giving Israel free rein.\n"The Palestinian government considers this Israeli terrorist campaign to be a direct result of American encouragement and the total American bias in favor of the Israeli government," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, echoing a widely held sentiment in the West Bank and Gaza.\nPalestinian officials are furious with President Bush for sidelining them, endorsing Sharon's unilateral plan and backing Israel's demand to hang on to parts of the West Bank.\nBush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, denied Bush gave Sharon the go-ahead for the Rantisi killing during their White House meeting last week. She told ABC TV Israel has the right to defend itself but that it is "extremely important that Israel take into consideration the consequences of anything that it does."\nMashaal said Sunday the killing of Rantisi only strengthened his group and boosted support for it. However, a local leader in Gaza, Ismail Hanieh, acknowledged Hamas suffered a momentary setback.\nPalestinian officials said they are worried the next target for assassination will be Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom Israel accuses of encouraging terror. The Israeli Cabinet voted last year to "remove" Arafat.\nIn Sunday's funeral, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians thronged the streets of Gaza City. In addition to Rantisi, two bodyguards were killed when two missiles struck the car in which they were traveling.\nHamas supporters chanted "God is great" and "revenge, revenge" and threw flowers at the three bodies as they passed in a procession. They touched Rantisi's exposed face, which was covered with shrapnel wounds.\nAbout 200 armed Hamas militants lined the sides of the road and saluted the bodies as they approached a large blue and green mourning tent set up outside Rantisi's house. Armed men fired into the air and many in the gathered crowd raised their fists in anger.