For the Record

A senior Hamas figure in Gaza was quoted Monday as urging Palestinian factions to "continue to fight the Jews until the last of them is gone from Palestine."

In an interview with Hamas Television quoted on Israel Radio, Nizar Riyan, a leading member of the Islamic group's political wing, said:

"It is a definite decision within the organization that Israel will be removed from the map, to be replaced by a Palestinian state."

Previously, Nizar was quoted thus:-

Israel aborted planned air attacks on the homes of two militants Sunday after hundreds of Palestinians formed a human shield around the buildings in the Gaza Strip. "This is a great stance by our people," said Nizar Ryan, a spokesman from the Islamicmilitant group Hamas, which won control of the Palestinian government in parliamentary elections this year. "Women and men will break the power of F16 planes."