Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian mourners cried for vengeance on Sunday for Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, slain by Israeli missiles even as the Jewish state plans to quit the group's Gaza stronghold.
In secret, Hamas named a new official to replace 56-year-old Rantissi - the second leader of the Hamas group to be assassinated by Israel in less than a month. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin died in a previous missile attack on March 22.
Rantissi's body was carried aloft on a stretcher draped in a green Hamas flag. Mourners kissed his shrapnel-sliced face and others tossed flower petals onto the body. Fists shook at the sky in anger as four Israeli warplanes roared overhead.
"The blood of Yassin and Rantissi will not be wasted. Their blood will force the eruption of new volcanoes," one Palestinian cried. Thousands took up the refrain of revenge, chanting: "We will sacrifice our souls and blood for Rantissi."
Rantissi, an Egyptian-trained paediatrician who was outspoken in support of violence against Israel, died when two missiles slammed into his car hours after a suicide bomber killed an Israeli soldier at northern Gaza's Erez crossing.
Rantissi was buried on Sunday in Gaza's Martyrs' Cemetery.
Hamas has so far failed to carry out the kind of massive attack it had promised to avenge Yassin's death.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised the army for Saturday's helicopter strike on the firebrand Rantissi, Hamas's political leader in Gaza, and pledged his country would continue to "fight terror".
Sharon told his cabinet the killing was part of a dual strategy to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war, while striking Palestinans. Key ministers pledged support for the plan after the meeting.
Faced with an Israeli threat to wipe out all its leaders, Hamas said it had named Rantissi's successor but would keep his identity secret. Palestinian sources speculated the new leader was either Mahmoud al-Zahar or Ismail Haniyah.
Protests against Rantissi's assassination erupted across the West Bank in scenes that recalled the start of an uprising more than 3-1/2 years ago. Israeli troops used teargas and rubber bullets to drive back stone-throwers.
Qurie wrote to world leaders on Sunday urging them to restart Middle East peace talks, accusing the United States of breaking international law by making "concessions" in the name of the Palestinians.
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan criticised Rantissi's killing, saying it could lead to more violence in the Middle East. The European Union and Russia also condemned it.
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