Militants 'to avenge Gaza death'

Relatives tried to comfort Tariq Sussi's mother

Islamic Jihad has vowed to strike back at Israel for the death of an aide to a senior militant killed in a missile strike on a car in Gaza City.

Aziz Mahmoud Shami, a local commander and bodyguard to one of the leaders of the group, died from his injuries.

A 14-year-old boy, Tariq Sussi, was also killed in the attack and at least nine other people were wounded.

The Israeli military said the air attack on one of Gaza's main streets had targeted a "senior terrorist".

An Islamic Jihad leader and relative of the dead man, Abdullah Shami, said the group was now more determined to "launch powerful and painful strikes against the enemy".

I heard the three helicopters; I saw them overhead and suddenly a big explosion happened Witness Ahmed Nahal

The white Peugeot car in which Aziz Mahmoud Shami was travelling was torn apart by the missile. The explosion was heard across the city.

A witness, Ahmed Nahal, told the Reuters news agency he heard the military helicopters before the car was hit.

"I saw them overhead and suddenly a big explosion happened," he said.

Civilian toll

Islamic Jihad has led a suicide bombing campaign against Israel.

Last October, the Israeli military killed 10 people and wounded nearly 100 others in a wave of air strikes near Abdullah Shami's house in Gaza. He was unharmed.

The army had said it was targeting Palestinian militia leaders and stores of weapons as part of its regular counter insurgency operations.

But the fact that most of the dead were civilians prompted rare internal criticism of the military's activity.

Later on Saturday, Israeli troops reportedly killed a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli army spokeswoman and Palestinian witnesses told news agency AFP the fatality occurred when a Palestinian was shot dead as he approached the fence of a Jewish settlement.