GAZA CITY, March 8: The Israeli army killed the security chief of Hamas and three of his bodyguards in a helicopter attack on the man’s car here, a day after Hamas carried out deadly assault on a Jewish settlement.

The attack, which also left 10 schoolchildren and a bodyguard wounded, drew a swift and chilling response from Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine al Qassam Brigades, which said it would now target Israeli political leaders.

It also came as Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) policy makers were gathering in the West Bank town of Ramallah to approve creating the post of prime minister.

Ibrahim Maqadmeh and his bodyguards were killed when gunships fired several rockets at their car in the morning.

Witnesses said the vehicle was completely torn apart by the blast and that charred body parts were scattered over the ground.

“Two helicopter missiles were fired at the car and two at the ground. I saw limbs and pieces of head flying off,” said Abdullah Aleh.

Firefighter Abu Eyad said “the car was on fire and people were trying to put it out. The sight was really awful, with small chopped body parts everywhere. It was a massacre in the real sense of the word”.

Israel acknowledged killing Maqadmeh, who military sources said “was one of Hamas’s founders and one of its military wing’s leaders; he was among the most radical within Hamas”.—AFP