A PALESTINIAN militant with ties to Hamas was killed in a car bomb yesterday, unleashing factional unrest that left three others dead and more than 20 wounded - in the first direct threat to the Islamic group’s new government.

The five-month-old Middle East ceasefire appeared to be unravelling as Israeli strikes on a van filled with rockets and a West Bank hideout killed six Hamas militants following a Palestinian rocket barrage on an Israeli town and a suicide bombing that killed six.

An explosion completely destroyed a car in a Gaza City street today, scattering shards of metal hundreds of metres away. Two people who appeared dead were evacuated from the scene, witnesses said.

Palestinian police were searching for an Israeli Arab producer for the TV network CNN kidnapped at gunpoint on a busy Gaza City street, and the network joined journalists’ associations is demanding his immediate release.

ISRAELI helicopters fired four missiles at a car carrying Hamas militants yesterday, killing at least one man and wounding 26 bystanders in a crowded Gaza City street.

An Israeli helicopter fired five missiles at a car in a crowded Gaza City street today, killing three Palestinians, including the bodyguard of a senior Hamas official, witnesses said.