GAZA CITY, Oct 22: Israel's killing of a top Hamas fighter in Gaza prompted calls for vengeance by the radical Islamic group on Friday, days ahead of a critical parliament vote on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate the territory.

A Hamas political leader vowed a "very severe reply" after 47-year-old Adnan al-Ghoul from the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades and his aide were killed in a targeted air strike on their car in northern Gaza City overnight.

"Our reply will be very severe and we will continue our resistance in spite of the campaign of assassinations by Israel," Ismail Hanyeh told AFP on Friday as he and more than 30,000 people attended Ghoul's funeral.

"There will be no security for the Zionist occupiers if the assassinations continue," he added, while accusing the United States of supporting the crimes of Israel and Arab nations of doing nothing.

The Israeli army said Ghoul was the leading Hamas figure responsible for the development and production of Qassam rockets - named after the group's armed wing - which have been fired at southern Israeli towns just across the Gaza border over the past months. And foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP Ghoul was a "perfectly legitimate military target given the fact that he was responsible for the development of (Hamas) rockets and explosives."

The death of Ghoul, accused of responsibility for killing dozens of Israelis and wounding hundreds more, "struck a very hard blow to the terrorist networks' capacity to strike," he added.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat condemned the strike, which he said "is part and parcel of (Israel's) escalation of violence and aggression which shows that Israel has opted for weapons rather than negotiations."

The army has been battling for months to try and stop the firing of Qassam rockets at southern Israel. The latest raid to stamp out such attacks - codenamed Operation Days of Penitence - ended last week and left 130 Palestinians dead and caused serious material damage in the northern Gaza Strip. -AFP