Bombing injures intelligence chief

Israel killed Islamic Jihad's top military commander.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An apparent attempt to assassinate Gaza's intelligence chief with a bomb planted at his headquarters Saturday heightened tensions between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Hours after the explosion, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a car in Gaza City and killed Mohammed Dadouh, top military commander of the small militant group Islamic Jihad, Palestinian officials said. Three others traveling in a car behind Dadouh's -- a mother, her 5-year-old son and the child's grandmother -- also were killed.
The army said Dadouh was responsible for firing rockets at Israeli towns. Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge his killing.
Abbas' security forces hinted that Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, was behind the bomb that seriously wounded Tareq Abu Rajab, the Palestinian intelligence chief and a key ally of the moderate Abbas.
It was the latest incident to strain relations between the rival Palestinian factions in Gaza. Hamas ordered its newly formed 3,000-strong militia to take to the streets this week in blatant disregard for opposition by Abbas, who has official control of the Palestinian security forces.
Tense standoff
The new Hamas militia and Fatah-run security forces have been in a tense standoff the past few days, evidenced by street gunfights that some analysts say may be the beginning of a broader civil war.
The homemade bomb that blew up the intelligence headquarters in Gaza City was packed with metal pellets and planted under the elevator's floor, Tirawi said.
Abu Rajab and six aides and bodyguards got into the elevator and were close to the second floor when the blast occurred. A bodyguard was killed immediately, and Abu Rajab and five others in the elevator were wounded seriously.
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