Hamas vows defiance, as it picks new leader

But the death of Yassin, many analysts believe, will only serve to increase the lure of Hamas and serve as a de facto recruitment call for young Palestinians.

"I would say that Sharon, by sponsoring this targeted assassination of Yassin, has strengthened Hamas. It has certainly not damaged its ability to operate," says Henry Siegman, a Middle East expert on the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

"I don't believe that Hamas depended on the charisma and character of Yassin for its ability to attract people to kill themselves," says Mr. Siegman. "There is no bureaucracy, there is no structure there. It has more to do with the occupation and the rage against it, and those conditions haven't changed."

Zahar, who survived an assassination attempt by Israel last year in which his son was killed, acknowledges he is a marked man. The only man who is higher on the list is Abdel Aziz Rantissi, one of the co-founders of the organization and one who was closely associated with Yassin.

While Zahar is more in tune with political developments and has shown more willingness to work with the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Rantissi's reputation is of a hard-liner who is more closely tied to Hamas's military wing.

Rantissi was chosen Tuesday by a meeting of the 12-member leadership council, or shura, which Hamas leaders say does not coordinate with the "military wing" of the organization, the Qassem Brigades, which plan attacks - primarily in the form of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.

Ghazi Hamad, a former member of Hamas who remains closely linked to Islamic political groups, says that Yassin's word was not the be-all, end-all of activity in Hamas. Sometimes, Mr. Hamad says, others in Hamas would disagree with the sheikh. Though the organization is now missing a unifying personality, he says, it will hardly be paralyzed from acting against Israel exactly as it did before.

"I don't expect there will an essential change inside Hamas," says Hamad, at the offices of Al Risale, an Islamist newspaper where he serves as editor.

But to insiders, Yassin had the ability to coax people toward more moderate positions: He was responsible for encouraging Hamas militants to obey the temporary hudna, or cease-fire, last summer. In a recent interview, Yassin said he was willing to stop attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip if Mr. Sharon made a full withdrawal from the territory. Going forward, in a Hamas without Yassin it could be much harder to get all supporters of the organization on board with a certain policy.

"They believe that if they destroy the leaders of Hamas, they can destroy the resistance," says Hamad. "But this will not break the hand of Hamas."

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