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Israeli air strike kills Hamas military chief Jabari | Israeli air strike kills Hamas military chief Jabari |
(35 minutes later) | |
The head of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, has been killed during a series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip. | |
He and another senior Hamas official died when the car they were travelling in was hit in Gaza City. | |
It was part of a wider Israeli operation against militant groups in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. | |
It follows a wave of rocket attacks against Israel from the territory. | |
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich told BBC News that "close to 20" sites in Gaza had been targeted in a "limited" operation, with the strikes aiming to destroy rocket-firing capabilities. | |
"The operation against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other organisations has two goals: to protect Israeli civilians and target the terror capability of these organisations," she added. | |
Militants in Gaza have fired more than 110 rockets towards southern Israel since Saturday, when four soldiers were wounded in an anti-tank missile attack on an Israeli army jeep. | |
Across Gaza there's anger. There's the sound of gunfire. The news is being broadcast from mosques. There are chaotic scenes at the city's hospital. | |
Ahmed Jabari was one of Hamas's most senior figures. He was 46 years old and the head of the movement's military wing, the al- Qassam brigades. | |
He was hit by an air strike as he travelled in a car through the centre of Gaza City. At least one other senior Hamas figure is thought to have died. | |
Israel will say Hamas had it coming. Palestinians will see it a major provocation. The fears here are it could provoke another war. | |
Before Wednesday's operation, six Palestinians had been killed in the ensuing Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip in response. | |
Mr Jabari, who was 46, is the most senior Hamas official to be killed in the Gaza Strip since the major Israeli offensive four years ago. | Mr Jabari, who was 46, is the most senior Hamas official to be killed in the Gaza Strip since the major Israeli offensive four years ago. |
Israel's Shin Bet security service said he had been responsible for "all terrorist activities against Israel from Gaza" in the last decade. | |
"Jabari was responsible for financing and directing military operations and attacks against Israel. His elimination today is a message to Hamas officials in Gaza that if they continue promoting terrorism against Israel, they will be hurt," it said. | "Jabari was responsible for financing and directing military operations and attacks against Israel. His elimination today is a message to Hamas officials in Gaza that if they continue promoting terrorism against Israel, they will be hurt," it said. |
Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri said: "Israel will regret the moment they even thought of doing this." | |
Saeb Erekat of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the separate West Bank territory, condemned "in the strongest terms". | |
"We hold Israel fully responsible for the consequences of this new act of aggression," he added. | |
Israel has killed several senior Hamas figures in similar operations, including the movement's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in 2004. | |
The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City says the sound of gunfire echoed through the streets after mosques broadcast the news of Mr Jabari's death. | |
There are fears the attack could lead to a major escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel, he adds. | |
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