While most of the free world praised the United States for having rid it of arch-terrorist Bin Laden, the Hamas organization - which has recently all but merged with Fatah, headed by Mahmoud Abbas - condemned the act.

Similarly, Arabs in the village of Silwan, adjacent to the City of David neighborhood in Jerusalem, rioted Monday night in protest over the elimination of Osama Bin Laden. The rioters threw stones at police and attempted to block roads.

The Gaza-based website Al Qassam reports that Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the local Hamas chapter that runs Gaza, told reporters on Monday that Bin Laden was an "Arab holy warrior."

Meeting with journalists in his office in Gaza City, Haniyeh said, "If this news [of Bin Laden's killing] is true, then this means that it is part of the American policy based on the oppression and bloodshed in the Muslim and Arab world."



Haniyeh expressed his strong condemnation for the killing or assassination of Bin Laden, whom he referred to as "Mujahed" - someone in engaged in jihad, holy war against infidels. He said he was praying for mercy for Bin Laden.

Hamas reached a "reconciliation" agreement with Fatah last week, calling for the formation of a joint interim government in the coming days, and preparations for elections a year from now throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The agreement was hailed by most left-wing and anti-Israel organizations, but even President Shimon Peres, a strong supporter of a two-state solution and the Oslo process, said, "Israel would like to see the Palestinian people become united for peace - [but] this is not an agreement, this is a split. Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization. According to this agreement Hamas doesn't have to change their charter that calls for the destruction of Israel, they can continue to shoot at us as they did when firing [last month] on a yellow school bus [and murdering a teenager]. Hamas is a branch of Iran - Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah want a union for war..."