GAZA - Hamas members vowed revenge after Israel attacked its suicide bombing mastermind, Israel's most wanted man, in a helicopter strike that missed its target but killed a lesser militant.
Israeli soldiers also shot dead a Palestinian policeman in Gaza and killed four Palestinians near Nablus in the West Bank.
The Army
said the Nablus men were militants planting a bomb but Palestinian officials said three were unarmed civilians.
Fighting erupted yesterday across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, further complicating efforts to break out of an 11-month spiral of violence since peace talks stalled.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he still hoped to meet Palestinian President Yasser Arafat "rather soon" for talks on ending the bloodshed.
Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Cairo but wound up with little more than tepid calls for political and economic help for the Palestinians.
In the helicopter attack, gunships swooped over two cars carrying the leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif - wanted by Israel for masterminding a deadly suicide bombing campaign - and Adnan al-Ghoul, one of Hamas' top bomb makers.
The cars raced into a field and drove around in circles to throw off the helicopters which fired four missiles, killing al-Ghoul's son, Bilal, when it hit one of the vehicles.
"The assassination will be met with assassination and the bombardment with bombardment," Hamas members shouted over megaphones shortly after the helicopter strike.
- REUTERS
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