Israel Denies it Killed Islamic Jihad Commander
01 March 2006
Israel has denied involvement in the death Tuesday of a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The militant, Khaled al-Dahdouh, was the head of Islamic Jihad's armed wing in the Gaza Strip. He died when his car blew up.
Witnesses said the car exploded as an unmanned Israeli aircraft hovered overhead. Islamic Jihad has blamed Israel for the attack.
But an Israel army spokesman said Israel did not operate in Gaza Wednesday.
Since January, Israel has increased its attacks on Islamic Jihad members in the West Bank and Gaza strip, responding to rocket attacks on southern Israel.
In another incident Wednesday, Israeli police say a Palestinian gunman shot and killed a Jewish settler in a drive-by shooting near the Migdalim settlement.
Islamic Jihad has ignored a year-old Palestinian truce with Israel and is responsible for recent suicide bombings against the Jewish state.
The group has refused to join the militant Islamic group Hamas in a new Palestinian government. Hamas swept Palestinian elections in January and is expected to form a new government within the next few weeks.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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