NABLUS, Aug 31: A local leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and four young people, including two children, were killed on Saturday and 10 other people wounded when Israeli helicopters blew up a car in the northern West Bank, Palestinian sources said.

Rafaat Daraghmeh, 26, the leader of the armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement for the town of Tubas, and also a member of the Palestinian military intelligence service, was killed when the Apache attack helicopters fired three missiles, Palestinian sources said.

His body and those of two 15-year-old boys — Yazid Abdelrazak and Sari Sbeih — were found charred inside the destroyed vehicle near Tubas, located some 20 kilometres southeast of Jenin.

Two cousins Bahira Daraghmeh, six, and Osama Daraghmeh, 10, who were standing near the car, were also killed, Palestinian medical sources said.

It was not clear if they were directly related to Rafaat since the Daraghmeh family is one of the largest in the area.

Another 10 bystanders were also wounded in the explosions, they said.

Israeli public television said another unidentified Palestinian militant was the target of the strike, but that he escaped from the vehicle after the first missile missed the car.

“We condemn this terrible crime committed by the Israeli government,” the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, said.

He warned the Palestinian Authority would not accept responsibility for the “consequences” of the apparent assassination, which he charged would further undermine international efforts to restart the peace process.

The Israeli army would not comment on its latest “targeted killing”, a tactic which has been used to eliminate dozens of wanted militants since the Palestinian intifada erupted 23 months ago.

HAMAS LEADER ARRESTED: Earlier in the day, Israeli soldiers arrested a senior political leader of the Hamas in the West Bank after a manhunt lasting several months.