Israeli missile kills top Hamas militant, aide

Palestinians inspect the car of Adnan el-Ghoul, one of the leaders of the military wing of the radical Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, after it was attacked by the Israeli army in Gaza City late Thursday. Ghoul, one of the chiefs of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in the strike by an Israeli helicopter gunship on the car in northern Gaza City. PHOTO: AFP

The assassination of Adnan al-Ghoul, number two in the Hamas military wing and known as "Father of the Qassam," a makeshift rocket frequently fired into Israel and at Jewish settlements in Gaza, dealt a major blow to fundamentalist Islamic group.

It could also help Prime Minister Ariel Sharon counter far-right opponents who say the plan he will bring to parliament on Monday to remove all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of the 120 in the West Bank would reward Palestinian attacks.

In the biggest blow to Hamas since Israel assassinated the group's Gaza leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in April, a missile from an unmanned Israeli drone slammed into Ghoul's car, late on Thursday, killing him and an aide, witnesses said.

Militants from Hamas, sworn to destroying Israel, vowed suicide bombings in revenge for the Gaza City attack.

The army confirmed it targeted Ghoul, 45, the "ace of hearts" in one Israeli newspaper's deck of cards of Palestinians on Israel's most-wanted list.

Israel launched a missile attack on Friday in the northern Gaza Strip on the home of Amer Qarmout, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella militant group, witnesses said. They said neither he nor anyone else was hurt.

The group earlier said it had fired homemade Nasser-3 rockets into the Israeli town of Sderot. The Israeli army said the missile was aimed at a building used for armaments production and which was also a weapons store for militants.

To avenge Ghoul's killing, Hamas fired off salvoes of rockets and mortar bombs toward Israeli targets. "Death is coming to the enemies," said the group's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

Ghoul had survived several previous assassination attempts, including a bid to kill him with a poisoned cup of coffee. He lost two sons in earlier Israeli attacks.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned the assassination and said it "reflects the determination of the Israeli government to continue the path of military solutions rather than negotiations."

Saying there is no Palestinian negotiating partner, Sharon has vowed to carry out a unilateral withdrawal of Gaza's 8,000 settlers and several hundred of the 230,000 in the West Bank by the end of next year.

Palestinians believe the plan is a ruse by Sharon to retain West Bank land and violence has surged in Gaza.

AFP adds: A Palestinian man was killed yesterday by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip during the funeral of a Hamas militant, medical sources said.

Ahmed al-Haddad, 21, was hit by a burst of gunfire during the funeral of Iyad al-Sirr, who, witnesses said, died earlier in the day when a mortar round he was about to fire exploded.

The circumstances of the shooting were not immediately clear.

A senior Palestinian official urged Israel yesterday to resume long-stalled peace talks and appealed to central Asian states to support the US-brokered Middle East "roadmap" for peace.

"I appeal to your excellencies to raise your voices and use your good offices to effect a ceasefire between the Palestinians and the Israelis," said Abdalla Abdalla, first deputy foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Addressing delegates to a regional Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Almaty, Abdalla said Israel and the Palestinians needed "to return to the negotiating table and implement obligations" under the roadmap.