An Israeli cabinet minister publicly called on Wednesday for the assassination of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah, whose group controls the Gaza Strip. “The next step in our operations should be the elimination of the terrorist Haniyah,” Housing Minister Zeev Boim of the center-right Kadima party told military radio. This is the only way to end the rocket fire against Israel,” said Boim, who has no authority on security decisions. Israel has killed a number of Hamas officials in the past, most notably its spiritual guide and founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened on Tuesday “the severest riposte” against Gaza after a rocket was fired on an Israeli town, the latest violence since the end of the devastating 22-war in the territory. Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday the Gaza attacks were war crimes for which Israeli officials should be held accountable, but he insisted he would continue seeking a lasting peace with Israel. “People who committed those crimes have to be held responsible so that these crimes cannot be repeated,” he told reporters after giving a speech at the European Union Parliament detailing the suffering of Gaza's civilians during Israel's three-week offensive targeting Hamas militants. $600-billion aid for Gaza As Abbas spoke, his government in Ramallah on the West Bank annnounced a $600 million reconstruction program for Gaza, most of which would be funded by foreign donors. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who heads Abbas's Western-backed government, said the project would cover all houses destroyed or damaged during the Israeli offensive. About 4.000 homes were destroyed and tens of thousands more were damaged during the Israel attacks which left more than 1,330 Palestinians dead. Egypt is to host an international conference in coordination with Abbas's Palestinian Authority on March 2 on Gaza reconstruction, whose cost has been estimated at $2 billion. Saudi Arabia has said it would donate $1 billion. Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged Europe to help with fast aid for the Gaza Strip, saying the reconstruction meeting would require damage assesments and the support of the European Union, the United Nations and others.
