Israeli troops kill top Hamas militant
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A Palestinian looks at the car of Hamas militant Riad Abu Ziad on Monday.
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GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) -- Israeli troops Monday shot and killed the head of Gaza's Hamas military wing, the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian security sources said.
Riad Abu Ziad died of his wounds while being evacuated in an army helicopter to an Israeli hospital.
The IDF said Abu Ziad opened fire on soldiers trying to arrest him and they fired back. Abu Ziad was considered to be the replacement for Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, killed by the IDF last July, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
Palestinian security sources said Abu Ziad was in his car heading to Gaza City to participate in the funeral of six Hamas militants killed Sunday in Gaza. The Palestinians said his car was hit by IDF fire and Israeli soldiers took him out to an army helicopter.
About 30,000 Palestinians attended the funeral in Gaza. Those attending included members of all Palestinian militant factions, the security sources said.
Hamas blamed Israel for an explosion that killed the six militants and wounded three others in the Gaza neighborhood of al-Zeitun, and vowed to avenge the killings.
Palestinian sources said the Hamas members were inspecting a small remote-controlled airplane when it exploded. There was no evidence of an Israeli attack. The IDF said it had no comment on the explosion.
Hospital officials, Palestinian security officials and Hamas said the six dead belonged to Izzedine al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group that the U.S. State Department labels a terrorist organization.
Izzedine al-Qassam claimed responsibility for an explosive device that destroyed an Israeli tank Saturday near the Israeli settlement of Dugit in Gaza, killing four soldiers.
Late Sunday, Israeli soldiers operating west of Jabalia destroyed the home of Ahmed Raandol, a Hamas commander for northern Gaza, for what the IDF said was his role in the tank bombing, a spokeswoman said.
The IDF spokeswoman said the troops came under fire and returned fire. There was no mention of casualties.
