Terror group Hamas secretly appointed a new Gaza Strip chief today, but refused to reveal his identity after Israel assassinated two Hamas leaders in less than a month.

ISRAELI warplanes flattened the home of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar with a half-ton bomb yesterday, wounding him and killing his eldest son and a bodyguard, in retaliation for two Hamas suicide bombings that killed 15 Israelis a day earlier.

Israel targeted a senior Hamas leader in a missile strike in Gaza City today, injuring him in the right leg and killing two bystanders, doctors said. Two dozen people were hurt.