Hamas overall leader on target list - Israel

Israeli officials said today they were targeting overall Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal as part of their campaign against the Islamic militant group.

The threat came a day after Israel killed Hamas’ Gaza leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi in a missile strike on his car on the road outside his home in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Gideon Ezra said that Mashaal, the Damascus-based overall head of Hamas, was also being targeted.

“The fate of Khaled Mashaal is the fate of Rantisi. The minute we have the operational opportunity we will do this,” Ezra said.

Israel has accused Mashaal of masterminding suicide bombings.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to keep hunting down Hamas militant leaders while pushing forward with his plan to evacuate all Gaza Strip and some West Bank settlements.

At the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting, Sharon thanked and praised the defence establishment for Saturday’s “successful” operation in which Rantisi was killed.

“This policy of making an effort on the one hand to advance a political process and on the other hand to hit the terror organisations and their leaders will continue,” Sharon said.