Gaza: 25 hurt in missile attack

A top leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was wounded in an Israeli air strike on a car in the Gaza Strip today, doctors said.

Abdel Aziz Rantisi’s vehicle burst into flames when helicopter gunships fired several missiles into it, witnesses said.

The air strike came just moments after the militant group said it might resume truce talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Twenty-five people were hurt in the attack and another man was killed, said Dr Moawiya Hassanain, director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital. He would not give details of Rantisi’s condition.

Rantisi, a leader of the Hamas political wing, is considered a hard-liner in the Islamic militant group. He had been among the most vocal in opposing a halt to attacks on Israelis.

In the past, Israel has repeatedly fired missiles at cars driven by wanted Palestinians, killing them in so-called targeted attacks.