Haaretz Daily
December 6, 2001

Members of the militant Palestinian group Hamas threatened to attack senior Palestinian Authority officials if the movement's leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is kept under house arrest, Israel Radio reported.

Yassin, 65 and wheelchair-bound, was the most prominent leader to be cracked down on since the start of a round-up of militants after Hamas claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 25 people in Jerusalem and Haifa last weekend.

A Hamas activist was killed Thursday afternoon during clashes between Palestinian Authority security forces and Hamas supporters on the streets of Gaza City. Mohammed Salmi, 27, was seriously wounded in the back during the clashes, and later succumbed to his wounds at Gaza's Shiffa Hospital, Hamas members and Salmi's relatives said.

Hospital officials confirmed Salmi had died of bullet wounds to the back. But a Palestinian security official denied Hamas claims that Salmi had died from their gunfire.

"Police did not fire at the demonstrators," the official said. "Hamas demonstrators initiated the fire."

Hamas has barred its activists from turning themselves in to Palestinian Authority orders instructing them to turn themselves in, Army Radio reported Thursday.

It quoted Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantissi as saying that Hamas had ordered its members to ignore PA summonses issued as part of an Israel and U.S.-spurred campaign to curb suspected militants in the wake of Hamas suicide bombings that killed 26 people over the weekend.

Hamas activists reportedly went underground to avoid the PA dragnets that began Sunday and intensified beginning late Wednesday. Hamas has decided to refrain from further use of firearms against Palestinian security forces, in order to prevent the outbreak of civil war, the radio said. By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz Correspondent, Ha'aretz Service and agencies