Hamas leader dies in missile strike

An Israeli missile strike killed Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi tonight in a strike on his car. Rantisi's son Mohammed and a bodyguard were also killed in the attack, hospital officials said.

The militant Hamas leader was one of Israel’s top targets after it had assassinated Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin in an airstrike last month.

Rantisi’s car was hit with missiles this evening on the road outside his home, leaving only the burned, destroyed vehicle. After the explosion, Israeli helicopters were heard in the area.

Rantisi was taken to the hospital in critical condition, his body pocked with bloody wounds, and rushed into emergency surgery, but he died five minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Witnesses said there were three people in the car at the time of the explosion. Five pedestrians were also wounded, hospital officials said.

Palestinians ran into the street and called for revenge.

Rantisi is Hamas’ top leader in Gaza and one of the most hard-line members of the militant movement who rejects all compromise with Israel and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Israel had previously tried to kill Rantisi in a helicopter strike on his car June 10. In a retaliatory attack the next day, 16 Israelis were killed in a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

The explosion happened this evening a block from Rantisi’s house in the Sheik Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, about 100 yards from where Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin was buried after Israel assassinated him last month.

Since then, Israel has vowed to kill the entire leadership of the Islamic militant organisation.