Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, head of the military wing of Hamas, has been killed during a series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
He and another senior Hamas official died when the car they were travelling in was hit in Gaza City.
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich told BBC News“close to 20” sites in Gaza had been targeted in a “limited” operation, with the strikes aiming to destroy rocket-firing capabilities.
“The operation against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other organisations has two goals: to protect Israeli civilians and target the terror capability of these organisations,” she added.
Militants in Gaza have fired more than 110 rockets towards southern Israel since Saturday, when four soldiers were wounded in an anti-tank missile attack on an Israeli army jeep. Before Wednesday’s operation, six Palestinians had been killed in the ensuing Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip in response.
Mr Jabari, who was 46, is the most senior Hamas official to be killed in the Gaza Strip since the major Israeli offensive four years ago.
“Jabari was responsible for by Giant Savings” href=”#”>financing and directing military operations and attacks against Israel. His elimination today is a message to Hamas officials in Gaza that if they continue promoting terrorism against Israel, they will be hurt.”
Click here for Israeli peace activist view on assassination
Six people – including a mother and her newborn baby have been after a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan..
The bomb hit a group returning home from hospital, striking their vehicle as it travelled through Khost province, on the Pakistan border.
Taliban insurgents frequently use roadside bombs to target security forces in Afghanistan.
The same roads are used by civilians who often become the victims.
Two more women and two men were also among those killed in Sunday’s attack.
“A pregnant woman was taken by her family to a hospital last night at 10pm, and they were making their way home in the morning with their newly born baby when the bomb hit,” Zarmaeed Mokhlis, governor of Khost’s Sabari district, told Reuters.
A Taliban spokesman said the group was aware of the Khost incident, the news agency reports, but could not immediately confirm or deny involvement.
The boy named by Hamas was Yunes Abu Daqqa was hit by rounds fired by an Israeli army helicopter. He was reportedly killed on Thursday when clashes erupted after militants opened fire on Israeli forces that had entered Gaza.
“Terrorists opened fire at IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers while they were performing routine activity adjacent to the security fence,” Israel’s military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said.
The AFP news agency quoted Hamas health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra as saying the boy, Yunes Abu Daqqa, “was killed by bullets fired from an Israeli helicopter during an incursion” in southern Gaza.
Soon after, a large tunnel blew up near the border fence, throwing a military vehicle 20m (65ft) into the air and injuring the soldier, said Israeli military spokeswoman Lt Col Avital Leibovich.
The tunnel was one of the biggest seen in recent years, she said, and could have been part of a plan to kidnap or kill soldiers.
Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, said it caused the blast, in response to the killing of the boy.
As Americans go to the polls to decide who will be their leader for the next four years, as well as the most powerful man on earth, no one is predicting the result.
Pundits cite the polls that put Obama on 50 per cent and Romney at 47, and then quickly add the words – ‘but it’s too close to call.’
By all accounts, the dirtiest campaign in presidential history – don’t they say that about every single one – where the only real winners have been the advertisers, is now set for a cliff hanger.
Should the current incumbent succeed – as appears likely at this moment – then no doubt he will be taking a long look at Wall Street who provided him with a fraction of the financial backing they gave to Romney.
If the result goes the other way – as is equally likely – then the new man may want to ask why when the economy was so clearly the issue dominating every American voter, did he so struggle – given his background and credentials as a businessman – to persuade ordinary Americans to back him earlier.
Either way, the man at top faces a monumental task – if Obama was handed a poisoned chalice fours ago, then what has the next President of America been bequeathed now?
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