JERUSALEM Militant leader dies in explosion

The Israeli military denied any involvement in his death.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
JERUSALEM -- A fiery explosion in the middle of a busy street killed the top military commander of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The Palestinian militant group immediately blamed Israel, which denied involvement.
Adding to tensions, gunmen in the West Bank killed a Jewish settler and seriously wounded a second Israeli man. Roadside attacks of this type were common at the height of the Palestinian uprising, or intefadah, but had become less common over the past year.
What happened
The explosion in Gaza came as Islamic Jihad commander Khaled Dahdouh was driving through the center of Gaza City. The blast sent shrapnel and body parts flying on a crowded thoroughfare in the Rimal neighborhood.
The blast injured two people who apparently were bystanders, according to Palestinian medical officials. It also shattered windows in nearby apartments, damaged parked cars and briefly knocked out power to the area.
"I ran outside to see what had happened, and I saw the burning car and pieces of a body," said Yousef Habush, an electrician.
When Israeli forces carry out a "targeted killing" of a militant leader, the military generally acknowledges having done so. But an army spokeswoman emphatically denied responsibility for this death, though Israel had tried to kill Dahdouh in the past.