January 13, 2008

Bethlehem – Ma'an – The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper quoted an anonymous Palestinian official saying that a European country had told Hamas leaders that Israel decided to assassinate Hamas' three top leaders, Isma'il Haniyeh, Khalid Mash'al and Mahmoud Az-Zahhar.

According to the source, Israel had delayed the assassination until the end of US president George Bush's visit to the region. He also said that Hamas and the de facto government in the Gaza Strip are taking the issue seriously, imposing intensive security to protect their leaders.

In the same regard, Al-Hayat quoted Hamas security sources as saying that they thwarted an explosion in the park where deposed Prime Minister Haniyeh was honoring the Gazan hajj pilgrims. They said a young Palestinian man was arrested holding a bag containing three kilograms of TNT, which was designed to kill Haniyeh.