Israel may try to assassinate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the entire leadership of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a high-ranking Israeli military official indicated Tuesday.  

Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon made the comment on the Israeli military radio. It came a day after the Israeli military killed Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader and founder of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza City.

The broadcast said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and his security chiefs decided at a meeting on Monday night to try to kill the entire Hamas leadership. Israel apparently decided to take advantage of the impact of Yassin's assassination to demand the Palestinians a complete halt to suicide bombings and other forms of terrorism.

It is unclear, however, whether Israel really intends to carry out the assassination of Arafat. Israel had allegedly considered assassinating Arafat on several occasions in the past but did not do so due to pressure from the US government.

Asked whether Israel tries to assassinate the chief of the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, Yaalon said the Israeli military believes that Hezbollah leaders appear to understand the possibility judging from their reaction to Yassin's assassination.

On Tuesday, Israel beefed up security throughout the country, issuing the ''orange'' alert level, the second highest after the actual state of war. It has called up all off-duty police officers and plans to put the country on heightened alert until April 22 when the Jewish holy season of Passover ends.

Israel also sent tanks to northern Gaza to prevent any large-scale uprising as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians gathered to mourn Yassin. An explosion was reported Tuesday in a Gaza district under the Palestinian Authority that appears to have been planted to strike Israeli tanks.

In opinion polls published by Israeli newspapers Tuesday, about 60% of the Israelis said they support the assassination of Yassin, while a survey by the Yediot Ahronot daily said that 81% of the Israelis believe that the assassination will lead to a short-term increase in terrorist attacks.

(People's Daily March 24, 2004)