Israel kills Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza strike

GAZA - An Israeli helicopter gunship slammed a missile into a car in Gaza City on Saturday, killing a top Islamic Jihad commander and a 12-year-old bystander and drawing vows of revenge by Palestinian militants.

The attack on the vehicle carrying Aziz al-Shami coincided with the start of a military trial in Gaza of Palestinians accused of killing three Americans, and a Washington Post report of an impending mission by United States officials to discuss Israeli plans to "disengage" from the Palestinians.

The Israeli army confirmed it had targeted the vehicle carrying Shami, who was a top commander in Islamic Jihad's "Jerusalem Brigades" armed wing and a brother-in-law and bodyguard of Islamic Jihad leader Abdallah al-Shami.

Doctors said Shami,37, died several hours after being critically wounded in the missile attack, which also killed a 12-year-old boy. Two other militants in Shami's car were seriously wounded and seven passers-by were hit by shrapnel, they said.

Abdallah al-Shami told Reuters that the death "brought happiness into our hearts because Aziz has achieved" the martyrdom which he sought, but it made the group more determined to "launch powerful and painful strikes against the enemy."

He called on Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie to halt talks with Israel aimed at restarting peace negotiations and arranging a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Qurie condemned the missile attack as an attempt to heighten tension in the region.

Islamic Jihad is sworn to the destruction of Israel and has helped lead a suicide bombing campaign against Israelis for more than a decade.

Israel has killed scores of Palestinian militants in helicopter missile strikes since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000. The strikes have been widely condemned by the international community.

An Israeli military source said Shami had been targeted for plotting a "serious attack" against a Jewish settlement in Gaza, and involvement in attacks that have killed 25 Israelis, including 22 in a double suicide bombing in 1995 and three soldiers killed in Gaza in October.

In Gaza City, Palestinian military judges adjourned until February 29 a hastily convened trial of four Palestinians accused of killing three American security guards in the bombing of a US diplomatic convoy in Gaza in October.

The trial opened just days after US officials complained the Palestinian Authority had not co-operated fully in its probe into the convoy attack.

A Palestinian source said President Yasser Arafat's security chiefs received direct orders at an emergency meeting on Thursday night to "intensify and enhance the prosecution of the defendants in custody". All four were arrested last year.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that key administration officials would travel to the Middle East to lay the groundwork for a trip to Washington by Israel's Prime Minister Sharon.

The delegation may include deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and the National Security Council's senior director, Elliott Abrams, as well as Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, the newspaper said, quoting US and Israeli officials.

Sharon shocked Israelis this week by announcing plans to evacuate most of Gaza's Jewish settlements if peace talks remained stalled.

Qurie told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that he welcomed the plan but rejected an Israeli proposal published on Friday to transfer settlers evacuated from Gaza to the West Bank.

- REUTERS