Missile strike kills Hamas official

Hamas supporters at the scene vowed revenge.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An Israeli helicopter fired five missiles at the car of a senior Hamas official today, killing him and two bodyguards, the Islamic militant group said.
Hamas said it no longer felt bound by a three-month unilateral cease-fire it declared June 29 and threatened retaliation. Two days earlier, Hamas had carried out a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, killing 20 people, but insisted at the time it was still observing the truce.
"We consider ourselves free from this cease-fire," said a Hamas official, Ibrahim Hanieh.
The Hamas official killed in the missile strike was identified as Ismail Abu Shanab.
No official comment
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military. In the past, Israel has repeatedly killed wanted Palestinians in targeted missile attacks. Israel had suspended the practice after militants declared the truce.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry official, Gideon Meir, said the Hamas political leaders were behind attacks on Israelis and must be held accountable, but would not say explicitly that Israel was behind the missile strike.
"There's no question that there is a direct link between the heads of Hamas and the terrorists on the ground," he said.
Witnesses said Abu Shanab's gold-colored station wagon was driving in the Rimal neighborhood and had slowed down to avoid a large stone in the road when a first missile struck the front of the vehicle. A second missile quickly followed, said Naim Shaban, who owns a metal workshop nearby.
"I threw myself under a table in my shop, and the explosions continued," said Shaban. "Flames were coming from everywhere. When it stopped, I saw one helicopter turning west, toward the sea. I rushed to the car, and saw people burning inside."
Three scorched bodies were pulled from the burning car. Two of the dead were identified as Abu Shanab's bodyguards. The third victim was decapitated, making identification more difficult.
Hanieh identified Abu Shanab at a morgue in a Gaza City hospital.
Dozens of Hamas supporters at the scene dunked their fists in blood and soot, raised them in the air and threatened revenge, chanting "God is great."
In June, Israel fired missiles at the car of another Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who escaped with minor injuries.
Earlier today, Palestinian leaders approved what appeared to be a limited clampdown on militants.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had shied away from confrontation with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and armed renegades in his own Fatah movement, saying he feared internal fighting.
However, after the Jerusalem bombing, there was mounting pressure, with the United States demanding an immediate crackdown. "There's funding, there's support, there's munitions, there's organization, and all that needs to be taken apart," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Meeting
A senior U.S. envoy, John Wolf, met today with Abbas. Wolf heads the U.S. team monitoring implementation of the road map.
In a first step, Abbas ordered the arrest of all those directly involved in the bombing, and then asked his Cabinet for proposals on a wider clampdown.
The ideas raised in the Cabinet meeting, including arrests, a gag order on Hamas and Islamic Jihad spokesmen and the freezing of assets of militant groups, were taken to Yasser Arafat and top PLO officials for approval late Wednesday.
The meeting, which lasted until early today, was at times stormy. Abbas had told his ministers earlier that he would resign if he did not get Arafat's full support for taking action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but it was not clear whether he did make the threat in Arafat's presence.
In the end, Abbas and Arafat agreed on a joint statement which said the Palestinian Authority would enforce the rule of law, take control of illegal weapons and end "military displays" by the militants, a reference to marches led by gunmen.
Raided towns
Israeli troops, meanwhile, raided the West Bank towns of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem in search of militants. Since the spring of 2002, when Israel reoccupied most of the West Bank, troops have been moving in and out of Palestinian towns repeatedly to arrest wanted men.
The biggest operation was carried out in the Casbah, or old city, of Nablus, a militant stronghold where troops were looking for Hamas militants and Fatah renegades responsible for two bombings that killed two Israelis earlier this month.
Troops sealed off the old city with armored vehicles and barbed wire and ordered residents out of homes to search buildings.
Soldiers took over several buildings as outposts, suggesting a longer stay. They arrested 14 Palestinians in and around Nablus during the night, including a Hamas member caught with a large quantity of explosives, the army and witnesses said.
In the town of Tulkarem, Israeli undercover troops chasing two Fatah gunmen raided a local pool hall, but the fugitives managed to escaped. The soldiers opened fire during the chase, killing a 16-year-old bystander and wounding four, all under the age of 20, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli military said there was a gunbattle.
A third raid targeted the town of Jenin and an adjacent refugee camp, a stronghold of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militant group loosely linked to Fatah. No arrests were made.
In the West Bank city Hebron, troops blew up the home of the Jerusalem bus bomber, a routine punishment intended as deterrent.
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