Senior Al Aqsa gunman killed in Gaza refugee camp
An Israeli airstrike on a car killed two Palestinians in the Jebaliya refugee camp today, including a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.
One of the dead men was identified as Hassan Madhoun, a senior member of Al Aqsa, an offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement. Three people were wounded in the strike.
Dozens of angry Al Aqsa members rushed to the local hospital where the bodies were taken.
The gunmen fired into the air and chanted “revenge, revenge”.
The missiles hit the car only a few minutes after a convoy carrying Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas passed through the area, according to Palestinian security officials.
Madhoun was a top fugitive whom Israel had accused of planning deadly bombings at Israel’s Ashdod port and the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel. Ten Israelis were killed in the Ashdod attack in 2004.
An Al Aqsa spokesman, who only identified himself as Abu Ahmed, said that “our retaliation will be equal to the size of the crime.”
Standing outside the morgue, Abu Ahmed was masked and carried an M-16 assault rifle.
