Speaking from his hospital bed today, Rantisi said that George Bush is "the biggest terrorist of all" for encouraging Sharon. He also said that Hamas would keep fighting until all Israelis leave the region.
Bush's spokesman, on the other hand, turned the other cheek and criticized Israel. He said that Bush is "deeply concerned" by the attack, feels that it "undermines the Palestinians' ability to fight terrorism," and "does not improve Israel's security." "Of course Israel has the right to defend itself," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, but it must be "consistent with broader objectives" such as implementing the Road Map. President Bush was fairly tolerant of the Hamas murderous attack on four Israeli soldiers on Sunday, dismissing it as the work of "Palestinian extremists."
Government sources said that Israel would continue to fight the terrorists until the PA fulfills its promises to do so. Israel's Government Press Office released a statement this afternoon calling Rantisi "among the most extremist leaders of the criminal Hamas organization in Gaza. He has preached and directed murder, sabotage, terror and incitement for many years." The statement says that Rantisi has stepped up his murderous activities, both openly and covertly, "in order to wreck the process begun at Aqaba" - and that these included partial responsibility for the murderous attack that killed four soldiers at Erez Checkpoint two days ago. Because the Palestinian Authority is taking no action to stop his criminal activities, Israel is "compelled to protect its citizens and try to halt this arch-terrorist’s murderous actions, the danger of which is increasing."
Shimon Peres of Labor does not accept this strategy, and said that the goal must be "only to do everything to prevent an escalation."
The IDF Spokesman said today that the Hamas leadership "has made a strategic decision to undermine the Road Map and ruin any chance of dialogue that could lead to a ceasefire and political negotiations." The prepared statement further stated that Hamas has "declared its intention to carry out suicide attacks in order to undermine the political process." Since 1993, Hamas has sent out 113 suicide bombers, 72 of them in the past 33 months. As a result of these suicide attacks, 227 Israelis were killed and 1,393 were wounded.
Hamas said it was already planning more retaliation against Israel - and in fact a volley of six mortar shells hit the Negev city of Sderot late this afternoon; one woman was treated for shock.
The Palestinian Authority said that the attempt on Rantisi's life was meant to torpedo the Road Map plan. "We will carefully study the matter and will take the appropriate measures,” threatened PA official Nabil Amr, while Yasser Abed Rabbo said that the attack is "effectively an attack against the Road Map," aiming to sabotage PA efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Sulaiman was scheduled to arrive in Ramallah tomorrow to mediate the truce agreement. Hamas called off these talks after the Aqaba summit, but said yesterday that it was "re-considering." Israel's attitude towards the talks has been cold, aware that the "hudna" cease-fire under negotiation is only a time-out until Hamas feels ready to begin attacking Israel once again.
The Victims of Arab Terror International Organization (VAT) announced its strong support of what it called Israel's belated action to eliminate Arab terrorist Hamas leader Rantisi, "whose constant incitement and encouragement of murderous attacks have resulted in the death of countless Jews within and without the Jewish state." VAT Founder Shifra Hoffman called upon Prime Minister Sharon "to continue to target the leaders of all Arab terror factions, including chief PLO terrorist Yasser Arafat."