VARIOUS: HAMAS FOLLOWERS STAGE A GENERAL STRIKE TO PROTEST THE DEATH OF YAHYA AYYASH

Record ID: 342126

  • Title: VARIOUS: HAMAS FOLLOWERS STAGE A GENERAL STRIKE TO PROTEST THE DEATH OF YAHYA AYYASH
  • Date: 5th January 1996
  • Summary: GAZA CITY/ RAMALHA/ JENIN (JANUARY 5 AND 6, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) GAZA (JANUARY 5) 1. SLV PLO LEADER YASSER ARAFAT LEAVING BUILDING / GETTING IN CAR (NIGHT) (2 SHOTS) 0.16 2. SV PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANISATION (PLO) CHAIRMAN YASSER ARAFAT ENTERING HOUSE OF HAMAS SPOKESMAN MAHMUD AL ZAHAR AND EMBRACING HIM 0.26 3. SV ARAFAT, AL-ZAHAR AND OTHERS SEATED 0.50 4. SV AL-ZAHAR GREETING VISITORS 1.24 5. SCU ARAFAT SPEAKING (MUTE) 1.32 JENIN (JANUARY 6) 6. SV/LV NIGHT PALESTINIAN STUDENT RALLY / STUDENTS SHOUTING ANTI-ISRAELI SLOGANS AND PRO HAMAS SLOGANS (4 SHOTS) 2.01 GAZA (JANUARY 5) 7. SV AL-ZAHAR SPEAKING (ENGLISH) 2.57 GAZA CITY (JANUARY 6) 8. SV PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI FLAGS AT EREZ JUNCTION 3.00 9. LV EMPTY CROSSING POINT 3.07 ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY, GAZA (JANUARY 6) 10.LV/SV PALESTINIAN HAMAS STUDENTS DEMONSTRATING / CHANTING / BURNING ISRAELI FLAGS (5 SHOTS) 3.48 RAMALHA (JANUARY 6) 11.GV GENERAL STRIKE / STORES LOCKED / EMPTY STREETS (2 SHOTS) 4.10 UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION 12.SV/LV SCHOOL BOYS DEMONSTRATING / CHANTING (5 SHOTS) 4.38 SEQUENCE 7 TRANSCRIPT: AL-ZAHAR: "(WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE KILLING OF AYYASH FOR THE HAMAS MOVEMENT?) THIS IS A MEANING FOR EVERY PALESTINIAN UNDER THE AUTONOMY AREA. IF WE ARE HERE ARE NOT SECURE WHAT IS THE MEANING OF CONFISCATION OF OUR WEAPONS. WE ARE CALLING FOR RESTORING OUR WEAPONS, PROTECTING OURSELVES, AND RE-EVALUATION OF THE SECURITY SITUATION AS REGARD THE MEMBERS OF HAMAS, PARTICULARLY THE MEMBERS OF (INDISTINCT - HASSAM). (WILL HAMAS RETALIATE FOR THIS DEATH?) YOU KNOW THE ATTITUDE OF HAMAS IS NOT TO LOSE BLOOD WITHOUT REVENGE. EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THE ATTITUDE OF HAMAS. AND WE ARE GOING TO ANSWER THE PROPER QUESTION BY OUR MEANS." Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 20th January 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GAZA CITY/ RAMALHA/ JENIN
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVAS3Q8WD4MJ5OD1W9C9FQ8CXCF
  • Story Text: Thousands of Hamas followers staged a general strike across the Gaza strip and much of the West Bank on Saturday (January 6) to protest the death of Yahya Ayyash, the elusive mastermind behind a wave of Islamic suicide bombings against Israel.

    Dubbed the "Engineer", Ayyash was killed on Friday (January 5) in Gaza, apparently by a booby-trapped cellular telephone.

    Palestinian security forces were on a high state of alert as thousands of Hamas followers took to the streets in Palestinian-ruled areas calling for its supporters to "avenge" the killing of the "hero martyr Yahya Ayyash" and participate in his funeral.

    At a rally at Gaza's Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold, students waved pictures of Ayyash while burning Israeli flags and chanting slogans.

    Ayyash was the brain behind a wave of bombings, mainly by Hamas, which have killed some 77 Israelis and foreigners since the 1993 Israeli-PLO peace accord.

    The killing on PLO-controlled territory was likely to embarrass Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat who had pressured Hamas to suspend attacks while his peace partner Israel extended Palestinian self-rule from Gaza to the West Bank.

    Arafat expressed his condolences over the killing on Friday and paid a visit to the Gaza home of Mahmoud al-Zahhar, the spokesman for the militant Islamic group.

    Israeli government and opposition figures welcomed the death, doing little to dampen speculation that Israel had a hand in the killing of its most wanted enemy.


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