Israeli forces killed the top commander of Hamas's military wing and three other militants in a helicopter missile strike on a car in the Gaza Strip this morning, drawing vows of revenge from the militant Islamic group.
Ibrahim al-Maqadma, 51, was a founder of Hamas and was believed to be the top commander of its military wing, which has been engaged in a suicide bombing campaign against Israel since mainstream Palestinian leaders signed interim peace accords with the Jewish state in 1993.
Four Israeli helicopter gunships swooped out of the sky and blasted a car in which Maqadma and three other Hamas militants were driving, turning it into a heap of charred, smoking wreckage and scattering body parts along the road.
The Palestinian Authority strongly condemned Maqadma's "assassination" and said it would hold Israel responsible for its consequences.
Maqadma was the most senior Palestinian militant Israel has killed since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000 after a deadlock in negotiations for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Today's missile strike was the latest in a wave of violence to have rocked Israelis and Palestinians, frustrating efforts to calm 29 months of bloodshed as it tries to rally international support for a possible war on Iraq.
Hundreds of grieving Hamas members gathered at the morgue where the bodies were taken amid cries for revenge. Hamas leaders said Maqadma's killing was a major loss for the group.
"They've crossed the red line," said Ismail Haiyah, a senior leader of Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction. "They've opened a new battle. Hamas will know how to respond and how to get revenge," he told Reuters from the Gaza morgue.
An Israeli security source described Maqadma as "a key decision maker in Hamas" and said he had been the top leader of the group's military wing for the past two decades.
Hamas sources said Maqadma was the brains behind Hamas's armed wing and its top commander, though Hamas political leaders said he was not involved in military activities.
Senior Hamas leader Salah Shehada, who was killed in an Israeli air raid last year, and top Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash, killed in 1996 by a boobytrapped telephone planted by Israel, were both believed to have reported to Maqadma.
Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told Reuters "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the new assassination in Gaza and we hold the Israeli government fully responsible for the consequences of this act."