Mohammad Deif, a military leader of the Islamic radical group Hamas who tops Israel's wanted list, escaped a Gaza City assassination bid with only moderate injuries, an Israeli cabinet minister told army radio this morning.
"The information I have been getting from our services shows he has been injured but that his life is not in danger," said Sports Minister Matan Vilnai, who is a member of Israel's security cabinet.
A few hours after last night's helicopter attack, Israeli security services had said they were 99 percent sure the senior leader of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades had been killed in the raid which left two other Palestinians dead.
Vilnai told the radio that Deif had survived the missile attack because Israel had not used powerful enough weapons, for fear of causing too many civilian casualties.
"Means which would undoubtedly have killed him, together with dozens of other people, could have been used," he said.
Vilnai's announcement confirmed strong denials from the Hamas military wing of their leader's death.
Two rank-and-file Hamas militants - Abdelrahim Hamdan, 40, and Issa Ajarem, 35 - were killed instead, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades said.
Another 25 Palestinians, including 10 children, were also wounded in the missile strike on Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.
In July, the Israeli air force sparked a wave of international criticism when it killed 15 civilians as well as the then head of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Salah Shehade, and his bodyguard, in a strike on a densely populated neighbourhood of Gaza City.
AFP