Israel kills three in Gaza 'copter attack

An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a car in the Gaza Strip today, obliterating the vehicle and killing three Islamic Jihad members and wounding 15 people, doctors said.

Three of the wounded were in critical condition after the attack in a densely populated area between Gaza City and the Jebaliya refugee camp.

Three children were among those hurt, including a girl who was in critical condition, hospital doctors said.

The missiles hit with a thunderous explosion. Palestinian security officials strained to keep order as crowds gathered around the wreckage.

One man held up a bit of charred flesh and screamed for revenge.

Israel said the car carried senior Islamic Jihad militants responsible for planning several attacks on Israelis.

There has been some expectation that Israel would step up its strikes against militants ahead of a possible withdrawal from much of the Gaza Strip, to prevent militants from making the claim that they drove out Israeli forces.

Two advisers to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were leaving for Washington later tonight to discuss his unilateral withdrawal plan with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Sharon has said he would coordinate any pullback with the United States.

Islamic Jihad identified the three men killed in today’s strike as Mahmoud Judah, a field commander of the group’s violent military wing, militant Ayman Dahdouh and his cousin Amin, who was a supporter of the group but not a militant.

Two of the bodies were decapitated.

Israel has frequently sent helicopter gunships and warplanes to kill Palestinian militants in targeted missile strikes throughout more than three years of fighting.

The last such strike was February 7 when an Islamic Jihad leader and a 12-year-old boy were killed by missiles.

Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers levelled 120 Palestinian shops close to a crossing point between Gaza and Israel.

The military said the shops sat over a tunnel used by two gunmen who secretly entered the heavily fortified Erez crossing and killed a soldier earlier this week.

A bit of twisted metal and concrete was all that was left of the shops and food carts in the flattened lot about the size of a soccer field. It housed clothing, furniture and second-hand shops as well as food stalls.