Crowds mourn Gaza militant leader

Jamal Abu Samhadana, the founder of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), was killed in Rafah on Thursday.

The Hamas-led Palestinian government condemned the attack. Israel blames the PRC for rocket attacks on the country.

Three people were killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza later on Friday, Palestinian officials say.

They say a missile hit a car with a group of militants.

Revenge calls

Thousands of people flocked to a stadium in Rafah were a makeshift mosque was set to accommodate big crowds.

"We are ready to redeem you with our souls and our blood"
Gunmen in Rafah

Hundreds of gunmen escorted Samhadana's body through the streets of Rafah before the burial.

Many shouted in the air, chanting "Revenge, revenge!".

The Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman, Khaled Abu Hilal, described the Israeli attack - in which three other people were also killed - as a serious escalation.

Samhadana - a senior security chief in the Palestinian government - was one of Israel's most wanted men in Gaza, and was thought to be involved in a 2003 attack on a US convoy.

The Israeli security forces have gone on alert after Samhadana's supporters threatened to avenge his death.

Rafah strike

A training camp in Rafah - on the Egyptian border - was shaken by four explosions close to midnight local time (2100GMT) on Thursday.

It soon became clear that Samhadana was one of the four killed.

Hospital officials said despite serious injuries Samhadana's face was recognisable, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The Israeli military said it targeted militants who were planning an attack on Israel.

Samhadana had narrowly escaped four previous assassination attempts, once being so badly injured that he lost a leg, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says.

Samhadana had become close to the Hamas movement which now controls the Palestinian government, our correspondent says.

His appointment to the interior ministry recently infuriated Israel and the Palestinian opposition faction, Fatah.

The move was also bitterly condemned by the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas.

The PRC expressed their anger over Samhadana's death, promising to "open the gates of hell" in response.