January 5, 1996
Web posted at: 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT)
From Correspondent Walter Rodgers
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Confusion erupted on the streets of Gaza Friday, soon after Israeli radio announced that Yehiya Ayyash had been assassinated. Ayyash was a hero in the Palestinian slums, but he was number one on Israel's most wanted list.
And Shimon Shitreet, an Israeli cabinet minister, laid to rest any confusion about that issue when he announced Ayyash's death.
"This man is not on earth any more," Shitreet said. "He is not active and it is too small comfort for the casualties." (102K AIFF sound or 102K WAV sound)
Ayyash, nicknamed "The Engineer" because of his bomb-making skills, had been hunted by the Israelis since 1993. He is suspected of having been behind half a dozen suicide bombings, usually targeting buses. His bombs killed close to 70 Israelis in the last year and a half.
Because the suicide bombings came close to scuttling the Israeli-Palestinian peace process last year, Yasser Arafat's police also joined in the hunt to track down Ayyash.
On the streets of Gaza, Palestinians were quick to assume Israel killed Ayyash, while others refused to believe the infamous Engineer was dead. But virtually no Israelis had any regrets.
"It is important to send a message to all his followers, all would be terrorist, that Israel's long arm would reach them," said Benyimin Netanyahu, a conservative Likud party member of the Israeli Knesset. (136K AIFF sound or 136K WAV sound)
A former top Israeli security chief said that on more than one occasion, Ayyash barely escaped capture. But apparently, capture eluded The Engineer on Friday.
A representative of the Islamic group Hamas announced Ayyash's death in telephone interview, claiming he died in a blast in Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip.
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