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Hamas orders more suicide attacks on Israel

JERUSALEM: The armed wing of Hamas ordered a resumption of suicide bombings against Israel on Tuesday in response to a crackdown by the PLO and Israel against the Islamic group.

In a statement faxed to an international news agency in Jerusalem, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades called on their armed cells "to penetrate all the volatile security barriers...and to resume the wonderful martyrdom operations and to set a burning fire anew in the heart of the intruding Zionist state".

Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and Israel launched a massive crackdown on Hamas and Islamic Jihad, arresting hundreds of suspected activists, after suicide bombers killed 58 people in attacks in Israel in February and March.

The statement said the crackdown by the Palestinian Authority and Israel had "breached all red lines". It vowed to punish Palestinian security officials responsible for arresting its members but stopped short of ordering attacks on the Palestinian Authority.

The statement said Palestinian security officials were torturing detainees and that many detainees were in hospitals under heavy guard.

It said the Palestinian Authority had left no room for any dialogue and demanded security officials responsible for the crackdown be brought to trial.-Reuter