'Brilliant and brutal terrorist' Shehadeh killed

DESCRIBED by Israel as the Gaza Strip's "most brilliant and brutal terrorist," Salah Shehadeh spent more than a decade in Israeli and Palestinian jails, and for the last three years was often in hiding as he oversaw Hamas' frequent attacks.

The bearded Shehadeh, 48, was killed when an Israeli warplane destroyed the Gaza City apartment where he was staying, taking the lives of 14 other Palestinians, most of them children.

Shehadeh was the leader of Hamas’ military wing, Izzadine al-Qassem, the group that has carried out the largest number of suicide attacks, including the deadliest ones, in the current Palestinian uprising.