Gaza City, Sept 27: Israeli helicopters shot two missiles into a car in crowded Gaza city today, killing two people and injuring 35 bystanders in an attack on the chief bombing mastermind of Hamas. Hours later, his fate remained uncertain and the Islamic militant group promised revenge against Israelis. A senior Palestinian security official said the fugitive 37-year-old Mohammed Deif escaped with moderate injuries. Israeli police sources said the Israeli military told them that Deif, who has topped Israel's wanted list for years, was killed, though the military itself had no comment.
Hamas insisted Deif was alive, and Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantisi said he was not even in the car. But he said the group would avenge the attack anyway: "we will hit Tel Aviv. We will hit everywhere."
The attack came on a day of violence in which four Palestinians including two gunmen and a baby and one Israeli were reported killed in other incidents, and Israel maintained its stranglehold on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the west bank town of Ramallah in defiance of Tuesday's UN Security Council resolution.
Two helicopters appeared in the sky over Gaza just after 1:30 pm local time (1600 IST), firing missiles that blew apart a Green Mercedes and sent a plume of white smoke over the Sheik Radwan neighborhood.
"Suddenly we heard the sound of a big explosion," said Mohammed Hajar, a hairdresser working in the area. "When I ran out, a second explosion took place." Bureau Report