Israelis kill Islamic Jihad chief in Gaza strike

ISRAEL killed the military chief of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a Gaza City airstrike yesterday that drew vows of revenge and could complicate efforts to end a huge Israeli offensive.

Bashir ad-Dabbash, 38, was the leader in Palestinian territories of the group sworn to destroying the Jewish state and at the forefront of a suicide bombing campaign during a four-year-old Palestinian uprising.

He died alongside another militant one year and one day after the last big suicide bombing by the faction, when a Palestinian woman killed 23 Israelis at a restaurant.