Israeli missile strike kills three militants

JERUSALEM -- Israeli missiles slammed into a car carrying members of the militant group Hamas along a dirt road in the central Gaza Strip yesterday, incinerating the three men inside, causing farmers in nearby fields to dive for cover and sending black smoke billowing into a cloudless sky.

It was the second deadly airstrike in five days against Palestinian militants in Gaza, signaling a clear revival of Israel's controversial tactic of so-called targeted killings of militant figures. Three members of Islamic Jihad were killed in a similar raid in a Gaza refugee camp on Saturday.

The Israeli government defends such killings as a deterrent against suicide bombings and other attacks. But international and Israeli human rights groups say the tactic amounts to execution without trial.

Under US pressure, Israel for several months had quietly halted targeting of militant leaders, but in recent weeks Israeli officials declared their intention to resume the campaign.

Palestinian officials condemned yesterday's airstrike. "The Israeli government's aim is to kill any attempt to restore quiet and revive the peace process," Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei told Reuters.

Israel charges that Qurei has failed to crack down on militants, as mandated by the US-backed peace plan known as the road map.

In the aftermath of the missile strike, bystanders rushed to the burning car, trying in vain to douse the flames by flinging handfuls of sand at it.

Medics pulled the three charred bodies -- one of them decapitated, according to witnesses -- from the twisted wreckage.

"The bodies were in pieces, completely burned," said ambulance driver Khaled Abu Zeid.

The Israeli army confirmed that it had carried out the airstrike, describing those targeted as senior Hamas operatives who were "involved in numerous terrorist attacks . . . and planning additional attacks."

On its website, Hamas indicated that the three were about to carry out an attack, the Associated Press reported. "The three martyrs were on a holy mission when the Zionist US-made helicopters fired two missiles toward their vehicle," the statement said.

Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said the Islamic militant group would keep up attacks against Israel. "The Palestinian people will continue their resistance despite this aggression," Yassin said.

The three slain men were identified as Ibrahim Diri, Amar Hassan, and Terad Jamali. Palestinian security sources confirmed that all three were members of Hamas' military wing, the Izzedin al-Qassam, and that two of them held the rank of commander.