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 intifada, but had become less common over the past year.
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.
“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.
“We had nothing at all to do with the explosion,” said Maj. Avital Leibovich.
Islamic Jihad nonetheless vowed vengeance against Israel. “We will attack in full force to avenge this crime,” said a spokesman who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Hafs.
Islamic Jihad said Dahdouh was responsible for many attacks against Israelis and had commanded the group’s military wing in Gaza as well as overseeing its manufacture of armaments, including homemade rockets. But Islamic Jihad dismissed the possibility that Dahdouh might have been transporting explosives that went off accidentally.
