1 hour, 33 minutes ago
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel killed Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin in a helicopter missile strike outside a Gaza City mosque Monday, prompting threats of unprecedented revenge by Palestinian militants against Israel and the United States.
AP Photo
Reuters
Slideshow: Mideast Conflict
Hamas Founder Killed in Israeli Airstrike
(AP Video)
Yassin was the most prominent Palestinian leader killed by Israel in more than three years of fighting, and his assassination was seen as a major escalation.
More than 200,000 Palestinians, some carrying billowing green Hamas flags, flooded the streets for the funeral procession, the largest gathering in Gaza City in recent memory. Thousands also took to the streets in the West Bank.
Mourners jostled to touch Yassin's flag-draped coffin, and women ululated and threw flowers and candy. Two Israeli helicopters flew above, and the sky was blackened from the smoke of tires set ablaze in the streets by protesting Palestinians.
At the cemetery, Yassin's body was carried between two rows of 200 militants armed with anti-tank missiles and machine guns.
"Words cannot describe the emotion of anger and hate inside our hearts," said Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, a close associate of Yassin
