JERUSALEM, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli army has the legal right to target and kill Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, also a senior Hamas leader, if there is evidence that he has engaged in and supported anti-Israel attacks, a senior Israeli army officer said on Thursday.

    The Israeli army had the legal right to launch attacks on the Hamas leadership since the group refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and continues support for anti-Israel attacks, the officer was quoted by local newspaper the Jerusalem Post as saying.

    "This new reality, in which the Palestinian government supports terror, does not prevent terror and does not recognize Israel's right to exist, can legally allow for diplomatic and operational decisions that were not made in the past," he said.

    The officer, whose name was not revealed in the report, also said that Hamas's refusal to accept previous Palestinian-Israeli deals including the interim peace accords constituted a "severe breach of contract" and placed the Palestinian leadership on the footing of disadvantage.

    But he added that there was no reason for Israel to declare war on the Palestinian National Authority.

    Israel has vowed to avoid contact with the Hamas-led Palestinian government, warning that Hamas leaders remain targets of its military actions.

    Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, has committed itself to Israel's destruction and insisted on armed resistance against the Israeli occupation.

    Winning the January Palestinian legislative elections by a landslide, Hamas has formed its own cabinet and the new government formally took office on March 29. Enditem