Hamas will not target US

With US forces poised for battle in Iraq, a leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas today said his group would not target Americans.

Abdel Aziz Rantisi said the militant group’s only enemy is Israel.

Hamas, which wants an Islamic-ruled Middle East and the elimination of the Jewish state, will continue to attack Israelis, he added.

Since it was founded in 1987, Hamas has sent its followers to kill hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers in suicide bombings and shooting attacks, killings that have increased during the current 30-month-old conflict.

“Despite the American support for the Zionist entity (Israel) and despite the fact that Iraq is part of our Islamic nation, we consider our battle here in Palestine against the Zionist entity to be our only legitimate battle,” Rantisi said.

“The Hamas movement is not going to target any American interests at all, at any time.”

The US State Department has included Hamas on a list of terrorist groups.

Israeli forces have been targeting Hamas leaders since the group destroyed an Israeli tank with a bomb, killing its four man crew on February 15.

In recent weeks, Israel’s military has raided the group’s strongholds in crowded Gaza Strip refugee camps and towns.

In the West Bank today, Israeli forces killed two of the groups top leaders.