GAZA, Sept 6: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Hamas, escaped an Israeli air strike with minor wounds on Saturday by leaving a house moments before an F-16 fighter jet struck it with a missile.

Mr Yassin was slightly wounded in the hand and shoulder in the attack in the heart of Gaza City. The strike wounded about 15 Palestinians, including six children, and sparked protests by tens of thousands of people across Gaza.

“You will pay the price for this crime,” Yassin told a crowd of angry supporters after praying at a mosque, aiming his comments at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The Hamas threatened to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after the Israeli air strike.

“We warn Sharon that his head is now wanted by our troops,” leaders of Hamas’ military wing said via loudspeaker at a Gaza City hospital where Yassin was treated.

The attack was the latest in a series of military strikes against Hamas since a suicide bombing on Aug 19 killed 22 Israelis on a Al Quds bus.

“We heard a loud noise and then everything went black and then red before my eyes,” said Marwan Abu Ras, another Hamas member and university lecturer, whose three-storey house was hit. Abu Ras was also slightly hurt. Abu Ras said the missile destroyed the top floor of his house just moments after Yassin and another Hamas official, Ismail Haniyeh, left after hearing Israeli fighter aircraft overhead. They had been planning to sit down to lunch.

Haniyah’s son said Arafat had later sent a goodwill telegram to Haniyeh and Yassin.

Hamas officials and an Israeli security source confirmed an F-16 fighter had carried out the attack, apparently firing one missile at Abu Ras’ home.

Mr Abbas issued a statement suggesting Israel had taken advantage of the Palestinian leadership crisis.—Reuters