Israel Braces For Hamas Revenge

Israel is bracing for suicide attacks after its assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi over the weekend.

Hamas has threatened "100 unique reprisals" against Israel for killing its leader. Hundreds of thousands of mourners flooded the streets Sunday in a show of strength and fury.

It wasn't clear if the Islamic militant group was strong enough to carry out large-scale attacks after a sustained two-year Israeli campaign against it. Despite promises of revenge, Hamas still has not struck in the three weeks since Israel assassinated Rantisi's predecessor, Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Hamas chose a replacement for Rantisi on Sunday, but did not disclose his name — a clear sign at least that the group is on the defensive in the face of Israeli attacks ahead of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel will invest tens of millions of dollars in West Bank settlements even as it pulls out of the Gaza Strip and a few other settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has proposed removing all settlements in Gaza, as well as four in the West Bank, and rapidly completing a separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.

Palestinians fear the move will strengthen Israel's hold over the rest of the West Bank, which they want as part of a future state.

Sharon on Sunday picked up the support of key Cabinet ministers, including Netanyahu, a former prime minister, for his unilateral disengagement plan, including the Gaza withdrawal, assuring him of a Cabinet majority ahead of a hard-fought referendum among the 200,000 members of his Likud Party.

Still not aboard with the plan is Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, whose Yahad party backs withdrawal but not annexation of settlements.

Sharon told the Cabinet on Sunday that he would forge ahead with his plan and continue to "hit the terror organizations and their leaders."

Even former prime minister Ehud Barak of the dovish Labor Party backed the assassination of Rantisi.

"Somehow to yield to this terror is even worse," he said.

Israel has suffered 112 suicide bombings in the past three-and-a-half years, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger.

Cabinet minister Gideon Ezra said the overall Hamas leader, Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal, was also a target. Rantisi was in charge of the Palestinian areas and reported to Mashaal.

Israel killed Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin last month.

The killing of Rantisi set off demonstrations — some of them violent — across Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Arab countries.

Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel's commitment to the settlements that will fall on the "Palestinian" side of the barrier and said he would approve tens of millions of dollars "to invest in the settlements beyond the main fence."

Netanyahu's proposal would contradict the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which requires Israel to freeze settlement construction.

He told Israel Radio on Monday that he decided to support the plan after President Bush announced that Israel would not have to absorb Palestinian refugees or evacuate major Israeli population centers in the West Bank in any peace deal.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and critically wounded a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in a clash between stone throwers and soldiers. Late Sunday, police shot two Israeli Arabs in Israel's northern Galilee region, killing one and injuring the other. The police commander said the Arabs opened fire on a border police patrol.

Many Israeli Arabs identify with the Palestinians in the ongoing violence, but they rarely attack Israeli security forces.

Israel rebuffed international criticism for killing Rantisi, including by several European countries. It said Rantisi — like Yassin — was targeted because he directed bloody Hamas attacks against Israelis and was planning more.

Many Palestinians held the United States responsible for Rantisi's death, pointing to President Bush's statement last week in support of Sharon's policies as evidence it was giving Israel free rein.

In Israel, Mr. Bush's support was seen as an important boost that could help Sharon win support his plan in the May 2 Likud referendum. It also helped persuade Netanyahu and several other influential Likud ministers to back the plan.

The U.S. National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, denied that the president gave Sharon the go-ahead for the Rantisi killing during their White House meeting last week.

She told a television interview that Israel has the right to defend itself, but that it is "extremely important that Israel take into consideration the consequences of anything that it does."