Hamas consider kidnapping Israelis

The Hamas leader today warned his Islamic militant group might kidnap Israelis as ransom for Palestinian prisoners.

Sheik Ahmed Yassin rejected a call by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to halt attacks on civilians in the run-up to Israel’s election on January 28.

He said in Gaza City: “Our enemies will free our prisoners only by force, because they only understand the language of force.

“From our experience with the enemy, all the prisoners released in the past were freed in exchange for prisoners and our prisoners in Israeli jails are now waiting for a new deal.” Yassin said.

He spoke after a meeting with a human rights activist and the Palestinian Authority official dealing with Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The Israeli army has been on heightened alert for kidnapping attempts. On January 1, an Israeli soldier managed to escape from three Arabs he said tried to pull him into a car as he waited at a bus stop north of Tel Aviv.

Yassin also rejected Arafat’s call last week to cease attacks on Israeli civilians. Hamas has carried out scores of suicide bombings in the past decade, killing hundreds of Israelis.

“Our resistance is not going to stop, before the election, during the election or after the election, “ Yassin said. “It will move forward until victory or martyrdom.”

More than 5,000 Palestinians are in Israeli custody, most rounded up in military offensives in the past year.

In the mid- and late 1990s, many Palestinians held for anti-Israeli activities were released as part of interim peace deals with Israel.

However, Israeli jails began filling up again after the September 2000 outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. In the past 28 months, Palestinian militants carried out scores of bombings and shootings against Israelis.

During the first Palestinian uprising, between 1987-1993, Hamas kidnapped several Israeli soldiers to press for the release of Palestinian prisoners. No Palestinian prisoners were released in these cases, and Hamas killed its captives.

However, Israel has swapped prisoners for hostages in the past. In 1985, Israel freed 1,150 Palestinians for three Israeli soldiers held by a PLO splinter faction.

Yassin himself was released from Israeli custody in 1997, as part of a complex three-way deal with Jordan following Israel’s botched attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader in Amman.