Increased security for Israeli ministers

Israel has increased security for Cabinet ministers following Islamic militant group Hamas’s threat to target political leaders.

Hamas made the threat in response the killing of one of its founders, Ibrahim Makadmeh, in an Israeli missile attack in Gaza at the weekend.

The helicopter strike came after Hamas killed 15 Israelis and three Americans in a bus bombing and a shooting attack on a West Bank settlement last week.

Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader, warned that Israel had “opened a new gate to violence” and that Israeli political leaders would now be targeted.

“Those who are well-known have well-known addresses, whether they are official or non-official,” Zahar said.

Israel has been especially sensitive to such threats since Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi was assassinated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in October 2001, soon after Israel killed a leader of the group.

Newspaper Yediot reported that ministers have complained about insufficient security. It said Ehud Yatom of Premier Ariel Sharon’s Likud party proposed that parliamentary aides be armed to protect their bosses.