Israeli Airstrike Kills Hamas Official in Gaza

JERUSALEM, June 8 -- An Israeli airstrike Thursday killed the director general of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry and leader of a radical armed group responsible for many rocket attacks on southern Israel, as well as three of his bodyguards, as they visited a militia training camp in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military officials said the strike near the southern city of Rafah was not directly targeting Jamal Abu Samhadanah, who ranked high on Israel's most-wanted list for his role as leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, the armed group believed to be behind an October 2003 roadside bombing in Gaza that killed three U.S. security contractors.

But the Israeli attack, which followed a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel earlier in the day, resulted in the death of the most senior Palestinian guerrilla in years. Although a former member of the secular Fatah movement, Samhadanah, 43, was named to his post and given the rank of colonel last month by Saed Siyam, the Hamas interior minister.

In that role, Samhadanah oversaw various branches of the 70,000-member Palestinian security services, including a 3,000-member force deployed on the streets of Gaza last month.

The new force comprises mostly members of Hamas's military wing and some Popular Resistance Committees gunmen. While its deployment greatly increased the friction between Hamas and the Fatah-dominated security services, resulting in several deadly clashes, Samhadanah had vowed not to remove the force from the streets.

Soon after the airstrike, which occurred just before midnight and wounded at least 10 others, scores of armed men stormed the hospital in Rafah. Many of them vowed to exact revenge for Samhadanah's death as they kissed his body and carried it on their shoulders through Rafah's streets in a raucous procession.

"We consider this a dangerous and serious escalation by targeting this hero," said Khaled Abu Helal, an Interior Ministry spokesman. "This is also targeting the Palestinian government."

Israeli military officials say Samhadanah, a powerful figure in southern Gaza, was behind attacks on Israeli tanks in 2002 and 2003 that killed seven soldiers.

He was also accused of planning several attacks on Jewish settlements in Gaza -- including an ambush in 2004 that killed a pregnant settler, Tali Hatuel, 34, and her four daughters -- before the Israeli government evacuated its settlements and military bases from the strip last year.

Last month, Israeli cabinet minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio: "We have old scores to settle with this murderer. He has no immunity, and we will have to settle this score sooner or later."

Samhadanah's killing comes as the Israeli military is facing increasing public pressure to prevent the near-daily rocket attacks from Gaza. At least five of the crude rockets landed inside Israel on Thursday, and the military responded with artillery fire into northern Gaza.

Special correspondent Islam Abdelkareem in Gaza contributed to this report.