Israel braces as Hamas calls off ceasefire

The main Palestinian terror groups called off their eight-week-old ceasefire today after a Hamas leader was killed in an Israeli missile attack.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas warned that the assassination of Ismail Abu Shanab would make it even harder for him to crack down on the militants, as demanded by Washington’s road map peace plan.

Today’s missile strike in Gaza City came in response to a suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday that was carried out by a Hamas member and killed 20 people, including several children.

Under pressure from the US and Israel, the Palestinian leadership had decided to crack down on the militant groups just hours before Abu Shanab was killed.

The latest escalation places President Bush’s ambitious plan for peace in the Middle East in serious jeopardy.

Abu Shanab was driving in his white estate car with two bodyguards when five missiles fired by an Israeli helicopter crashed into it.

He was decapitated by the blasts, both bodyguards were killed, and 15 bystanders were wounded, including women and children, doctors said.

The burning wreck of the car was surrounded by throngs of Hamas supporters, some of whom smeared their fists with blood and soot and waved them in the air, vowing revenge and chanting “God is Great.”

Abu Shanab, who was in his early 50s, was widely regarded as a moderate in Hamas, and had served as a liaison with Abbas during the prime minister’s efforts to persuade the militants to halt their attacks.

He was the third member of Hamas’ political wing to be killed in targeted Israeli attacks in the last two years. Israel has routinely targeted members of Hamas’ military wing, but has rarely gone after the political leaders.

The Israeli military confirmed it killed Abu Shanab, and said he was involved in the planning of attacks, along with other Hamas leaders.

“There is no question there is a direct link between the heads of Hamas and the terrorists on the ground,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir.

Hamas and a smaller militant group, Islamic Jihad, formally called off a three-month unilateral ceasefire they declared on June 29.

“We consider ourselves no longer bound by this ceasefire,” said a Hamas leader, Ismail Hanieh, after identifying Abu Shanab’s headless body.

The Hamas founder and spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said his group would take revenge.

“This crosses all red lines,” Yassin said of the missile attack. Addressing the Israelis, he said: “You will pay the price for these crimes.”

The truce had been the fruit of negotiations between the militant groups and Abbas, who wanted to avoid a violent confrontation with them.

Israel had significantly scaled back its military operations in response to the ceasefire, limiting arrest raids and suspending targeted killings.

But several weeks into the truce, Hamas changed the terms, saying it would respond with attacks to any killing of an activist by Israeli troops, but then return to observing the ceasefire.

Hamas carried out two suicide bombings under the umbrella of the truce, including the Jerusalem bus attack on Tuesday.

The Israeli security Cabinet decided late Wednesday to renew the practice of targeted killings, in response to the Jerusalem bombing, the deadliest since the launch of the road map three months ago. More than 100 people were wounded in the blast, including about 40 children.

After the Jerusalem bombing, Abbas had ordered the arrest of all those directly involved in the attack, and then asked his Cabinet for proposals on a wider clampdown.

Palestinian commanders were handed “lists of names, places to raid, of institutions to shut down,” said Elias Zananiri, a spokesman for Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan.

“Now this has all been put on hold because the whole thing has changed after the stupid assassination.”

Abbas said today’s missile strike would hamper any crackdown.

“This for sure will affect the whole (peace) process and the decision taken (last night) by the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

In New York, US Secretary of State Colin Powell called for international pressure to end Palestinian attacks, and urged veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to give Abbas more control of Palestinian security forces.

“It has to end. The Palestinian people, the Israeli people, deserve better. And those who are determined to blow up the road map must not be allowed to succeed,” he said.