Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded today that Palestinian leaders stop blaming Israel for the death of the chief Hamas bomb-maker - warning he would otherwise hold them responsible for any revenge attacks on Israel.
"We have been very clear with the Palestinian Authority . . . stop immediately spreading this false information," Netanyahu said.Hamas, an Islamic militant group, has accused Israel of assassinating Mohiyedine Sharif, who topped Israel's most-wanted list and died under mysterious circumstances.
In new threats today, Hamas said it will "open a new circle of war, not only in the homeland, but everywhere, worldwide." A leaflet by the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, said the bombings would be unprecedented.
Thousands of Hamas supporters marched in three memorial rallies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In Hebron, the crowd chanted "Kidnap Israeli soldiers now" and in Nablus, Hamas activists burned Israeli and U.S. flags.
At a Gaza City rally of 5,000 people, a Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, said the group would send many more suicide bombers into Israel. "The price of Palestine is very expensive and we are going to pay it with everything we have, our souls and our blood," he said.
A senior Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the initial Palestinian police report on Sharif's death may have been wrong on several points.
Sharif, 32, was found dead Sunday evening near the site of a car bombing in a garage in an industrial zone in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Israel said he died when the bomb, intended for an attack in Israel, exploded prematurely.
The initial Palestinian police statement said Sharif was shot to death three hours before the blast, and that his body was placed near the car, which was detonated by remote control, suggesting an attempt to cover up an assassination.
However, the Palestinian official said today that Sharif actually may have been involved in assembling a bomb.
The official noted that Sharif was naked at the time of death. Not wearing clothes is a standard precaution taken by bombmakers who don't want static electricity from clothing to ignite explosives, he said.
The official said it was not disputed that Sharif was shot to death, but said the time between the shots and the explosion was much less than the three hours initially claimed.
Palestinian police now are looking into the possibility that Sharif was shot to death by a Palestinian collaborator with Israel while he was assembling a bomb, the official said.
About 20 Hamas members have been rounded up for questioning since Sharif's death. Investigators want to find out who had access to Sharif, including those who would bring supplies to his hideout and who delivered the car, the official said.
Israeli security forces were on heightened alert today, with hundreds of officers patrolling malls, markets and bus stations in Jerusalem and manning West Bank roadblocks ringing the city.
At Jerusalem's central bus station, dozens of paramilitary border police stopped travelers to check their identity cards. City buses have been a favorite target of Hamas bombers.