Israel does not plan to target Fateh leaders in the territories at this stage of the conflict, a senior army was quoted by Haaretz as saying.
Army and air force special operations will focus only on people in the field who directly carry out shooting attacks against army camps or settlements and on senior local activists, who effectively act as operational officers, like Hussein Ebayat, who was killed in a helicopter attack in Beit Sahour on Thursday, the officer said.
Ebayat was the leader of Fateh’s military wing in south West Bank, and an elected member of the party’s leadership in Bethlehem.
"Our gun sights are aimed right now at those who take up firing positions, or who directly send people to those positions," the source said. He added that targeting senior leaders, such as Fateh West Bank leader Marwan Barghouthi, would lead to a substantial escalation - a development which Israel is trying to avoid at this point."
“Barghouthi is a member of the [Palestinian] parliament. Targeting him would not be a light matter," he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Friday during a visit to the army command in the West Bank that the killing of Ebayat had determined "clear norms."
"We will kill anyone who shoots at us. We have the capacity to do this," Barak was quoted by the daily as saying.
An Israeli army spokesman told the paper at the end of the week that during the night between Wednesday and Thursday, an Israeli unit hit an armed Palestinian cell that opened fire on Psagot. It is likely that members of the cell were killed, although the Palestinians have not announced any such deaths.
Fateh leader in Bethlehem, Kamal Hamad, told Albawaba.com on Friday that four other leaders of the movement were chased by four Apaches in the West Bank, but they escaped.
The Israeli army denied the accusations, according to Haaretz.
Military sources told Haaretz that two days before the attack on Ebayat, the army had come close to hitting him. However, a delay in the helicopters' takeoff ruined the operation which was instead successfully carried out on Thursday.
A spokesman told Haaretz that intelligence reports received by the military suggest that there is increasing cooperation among Fateh, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
