GOT ANOTHER "MILITANT"

Israel Kills Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza Strike.
GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed the military chief of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a Gaza City airstrike on Tuesday that drew vows of revenge and could complicate efforts to end a huge Israeli offensive. Bashir ad-Dabbash, 38, was the leader in Palestinian territories of the group sworn to destroying the Jewish state and at the forefront of a suicide bombing campaign during a 4-year-old Palestinian uprising. He died alongside another militant one year and one day after the last big suicide bombing by the faction, when a Palestinian woman killed 23 Israelis at a restaurant.

The Israeli army said in a statement that it had targeted the vehicle, adding that Dabbash was responsible for dozens of attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers. The killing of the Islamic Jihad leader came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tries to break armed factions before a planned withdrawal of troops and settlers from occupied Gaza next year. Militants seek to claim any pullout as a victory. Dabbash’s body was borne to the morgue from the wreckage of his car, torn apart in the missile strike, by militants firing in the air and chanting for revenge.