Israeli missile assassination attack kills two

Two passengers have been killed after Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car carrying Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement activists.

The target of the Israeli attack, a local militia leader, escaped with light injuries.

The army said the targeted man, Raed Karmi, was involved in many shooting ambushes and that he had killed six Israelis in the past 11 months.

The missiles were fired at the car while it was driving in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

Among Karmi's previous victims were two Tel Aviv restaurant owners who were captured by his men and shot dead in the street.

Karmi was identified by Palestinians as the local commander of the Al Aqsa Brigades, a militia made up mostly of members of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

Palestinians say Israel has killed about 50 people in targeted attacks against militants it accused of bombing and shooting attacks against Israelis. Several of those killed have been bystanders.