Palestinian aide killed in car bomb blast

A powerful explosion ripped a car carrying a top aide to the Palestinian intelligence chief on Saturday, killing him and critically injuring a bodyguard.

Palestinians accused Israel of assassination but Israel denied involvement.

Colonel Tayser Khattab, 52, was driving toward his office at Palestinian intelligence headquarters north of Gaza City when his car exploded.

Palestinian police said a bomb was apparently planted in the car and set off by remote control.

One witness, grocery store owner Ziad Sharkh, said the blast sent car parts flying into the air.

"I saw Khattab passing by and then a minute later I heard a big explosion and I saw fire coming from the car," Sharkh said.

Parts of the car landed 20 yards from the blast site. A car seat was thrown more than 10 yards.

Khattab was taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in a critical condition but died soon after, said Dr Moawi Hassanan.

Khattab was a top aide to the Palestinian intelligence chief, Amin al-Hindi, and was also a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.

He was described as a senior bureaucrat who was very close to al-Hindi.

Al-Hindi’s office said in a statement that Khattab was killed in an "ugly assassination" by Israel.

However, Yarden Vatikay, an adviser to Israeli defence minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, denied involvement.

"It’s again a Palestinian lie, and it is not Israel which carried out this explosion," Vatikay said.

Israeli military sources suggested the killing was connected to a feud between Palestinian organisations.

Although denying involvement in this death, officials reaffirmed Israel’s policy of carrying out targeted killings of Palestinians suspected of planning and carrying out terror attacks.

Since the outbreak of fighting, about 50 Palestinians have been killed in targeted Israeli attacks.

Most were militants suspected of planning attacks on Israelis, but several bystanders, including women and children, have also been killed.

Khattab’s funeral was held later today, with top Palestinian security officers in attendance.

Al-Hindi has met sporadically throughout the 11 months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting with Israeli counterparts, as part of CIA-led efforts to restore security co-operation between the two sides.

However, the most recent meetings earlier this summer broke down, with each side holding the other responsible for the ongoing violence.

Meanwhile, an eight-year-old Israeli child was slightly wounded today when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the Jewish settlement in Hebron, the army said.

Gunfire exchanges in the divided city have continued sporadically over the last 48 hours, with at least five Palestinians injured on Friday.