Word: qassam
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Precisely how far Israel will take the war is not clear. Israeli intelligence analysts and Hamas insiders say the orders for al-Qassam cadres come from leaders living in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan and Iran. Operatives of the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, have been given added leeway and increased funding to keep tabs on these commanders, but their specific instructions are unknown...
...Israelis have run into a wall in trying to find the militants who commit Hamas outrages. Since the bus bombing, security forces have rounded up about 100 West Bank Palestinians suspected of serving as accomplices to the Izzeddin al-Qassam brigades, the violent arm of Hamas. "We are shaking the tree to see what will fall," says a security official...
Security officials are hoping that interrogations of the latest batch of Hamas suspects will lead them to the al-Qassam militants. The Israelis have a list of 27 fugitives in the West Bank and believe there are others as yet unidentified. At the top of the wanted list is Yehia Ayyash, 29, an electrical engineer from the West Bank village of Rafat, who is known within Hamas as "the engineer." According to Israeli and Hamas sources, he is the movement's master bombmaker, who probably built the TNT device used in Tel Aviv...
...security forces catch up with those on the wanted list, new rules of engagement will apply. Now, say officials, forces in pursuit of a known member of al-Qassam may open fire immediately, without ascertaining whether the suspect is armed, unless he surrenders at once...
EVER since World War II, United States foreign policy has wavered between favoring the Arab states in the Middle East and favoring Israel. Virtually all presidents have tried to emphasize American ties with Arab leaders at the beginning of their presidency. Eisenhower tried to cultivate Iraq's Qassam. Kennedy and Johnson tried to cultivate Egypt's Nasser. So did Nixon. Carter wooed the Shah of Iran and Reagan the Saudis...