http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030823/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_325"The decision to kill leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad was made in a meeting of Israel's security Cabinet earlier this week, in response to a Hamas suicide bombing that killed 20 people, security officials said. "As far as we are concerned, anyone who is in the Hamas leadership is a fair target," one official said on condition of anonymity.
At the Cabinet meeting, participants drew a parallel to the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes seized by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Olympics, a security source said. At the time, Prime Minister Golda Meir ordered Israeli agents to track down and kill suspects in the kidnapping, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) appears to have approved a similarly tough line concerning the Palestinian militants."
We wish the brave IDF soldiers well in their hunt.