Militant is killed in Gaza camp blast
GAZA CITY -- A leader of the military wing of the Hamas militant group was killed last night in an explosion that rocked his home in a Gaza Strip refugee camp, medics and witnesses said.
Witnesses said they saw Israeli helicopters hovering over the Bureij camp shortly after the blast killed the militant, identified by Hamas officials as Abdel Naser Abu Shuka, 36.
None of the witnesses saw missiles being fired at the militant's home, but Hamas militants used loudspeakers from the local mosque to accuse Israel of assassinating him.
In a statement, Hamas said Israel had killed Abu Shuka, a militant leader for central Gaza, with a laser-guided missile. The group threatened revenge and said "the enemy will pay a dear price."
The Israeli Army denied that the military was involved in the explosion. "There were no forces in the area, neither on land nor in the air," when the blast occurred, a spokesman told Reuters.
An Israeli military source said the army suspected that Abu Shuka died in an accident while preparing an explosive.
Palestinian security officials said they were investigating whether Abu Shuka was killed by a booby-trapped package or by an explosive detonating accidentally in his hands.
The blast left most of Abu Shuka's one-story concrete home in ruins, but no other casualties were reported. Neighbors said they saw his wife and a daughter leave the house unharmed afterward.
Also yesterday, a Palestinian policeman was killed when gunfire erupted at a headquarters in Gaza City, in what the national police said was an assassination attempt by armed Palestinians against their chief.
But another security body gave a conflicting account, saying it has detained four people who had assaulted national police chief Major General Ghazi al-Jabali. As many as 11 of Jabali's officers also were wounded.
A statement issued by national police said: "Outlaws of the lowest level tried to assassinate the founder of the Palestinian national police, sent by some parties that do not want security and peace."
The Palestinian Preventive Security service and an Interior Ministry official denied that anyone had tried to kill Jabali.
