Israel killed the top commander of Hamas’s military wing and three other militants in a helicopter missile strike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, drawing vows of revenge from the militant Islamic group. Ibrahim al-Maqadma, 51, was a founder of Hamas and was believed to be the top commander of its military wing, which has waged a suicide bombing campaign against Israel since the signing of interim peace accords with the Jewish state in 1993. Four Israeli helicopter gunships swooped out of the sky and blasted a car in which Maqadma and three other militants were driving, turning it into a heap of charred, smoking wreckage and scattering body parts along the Gaza City road, witnesses said. Hamas’s military wing ordered its cells to take revenge, including by killing Israeli political leaders. The Palestinian Authority strongly condemned Maqadma’s “assassination” and said it would hold Israel responsible for its consequences. Hours after the missile strike, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat nominated Mahmoud Abbas, a senior PLO official, as prime minister, a step on the way to major reforms of the Palestinian Authority demanded by international mediators. Full Story
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