ISRAEL ERASES TOP HAMAS BOMB MAKER

LIVE BY THE BOOM, DIE BY THE BOOM

IAF kills top Hamas explosives engineer
An IAF aircraft fired missiles at a vehicle traveling in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip late Thursday, killing two Hamas terrorists and seriously wounding two others, Palestinian medical officials said. One of those killed was Adnan Al-Ghoul, a Hamas military commander who is said to have been the terrorist group's chief explosives engineer. Imad al-Baas was the other Hamas terrorist killed in the strike.

Hundreds of people, including firefighters and security forces, gathered around his white Mitsubishi as ambulances rushed to the scene. The explosion took place north of Gaza City on Madras al-Jaffa Street just after 9 p.m. as dozens of people were leaving a nearby mosque following evening prayers.

Hamas spokesman Musher al-Masri confirmed that Adnan al-Ghoul, the No. 2 figure in the group's military wing, was killed. "It's a new crime committed by the Zionist occupation government against one of the leaders of the Palestinian resistance," al-Masri said.

Known as 'the mechanic' due to his expertise in bomb making, Al-Ghoul was wanted by Israel for over ten years. He escaped several assassination attempts in the past, one of which resulted in the death of his twenty-year-old son. He was 46, married, and the father of eight. His body was so charred by the explosions that his wife was called into a Gaza hospital to identified his remains.

Al-Ghoul is considered the founding father of Hamas' Kassam rocket program. He was directly involved, with master bomb-makers Mohammed Deif and Yihiye Ayash, in the first wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel in 1995. Al-Ghoul's killing leaves the Hamas military leadership exclusively in the hands of Mohammed Deif, its longtime chief.

[ED. IF I WERE MOHAMMED DEIF, I WOULD NOT BE MAKING ANY LONG-TERM PLANS]

The Palestinian Authority arrested al-Ghoul in February 2002 but released him shortly after. The PA also attempted to recruit al-Ghoul in an effort to keep him under control, Israel Radio reported.

Al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas since 1992 and underwent military training in Syrian and Lebanon where he gained his expertise in bomb making. He returned to the Gaza Strip in 1994 and under the instruction of Izzadin Sheik Khalil was involved in infiltrating fugitives and weapons from Egypt in order to strengthen the infrastructure in Gaza Strip. His skills were used to prepare bombs that were used in some of the most deadly attacks against Israelis in which scores were killed and hundreds wounded. His bombs were used in the attack in Beit Lid in January 1995 double suicide bomb attack near soldiers hitchhiking station. He was involved in three suicide bomb attacks in Ashkelon and Jerusalem between February and March 1996 and the bomb that was used in the Dizengoff Street suicide attack in March 1996.

[ED. HOW DICKENSIAN, THAT THIS BOMB-MAKING TERRORIST WHO BLEW UP CHILDREN WAS NAMED GHOUL]

In April of the same year he was arrested by the Palestinian security forces but was released officially in May and was recruited to the Preventative Intelligence force in Gaza. Since the outbreak of violence four years ago al-Ghoul was considered master bomb maker and weapons developer on behalf of the Hamas and manufactured Kassam 1 and Kassam 2 rockets - which he constantly strived to improved.

He also focused on producing anti-tank rockets, mortar shells, explosives and grenade launchers. He also transferred his expertise to other Hamas activists and taught them how to make weapons and prepare bombs and assisted in transporting them from north to south Gaza. Al-Ghoul's assisstant Imad al-Baas was considered his right hand man and was involved in the 1992 murder of Moshe Beno and Ami Zeltzman, owners of a packaging factory in the Karni Crossing.

Abbas also assisted in developing and manufacturing of weapons and took an active part in planning attacks against IDF soldiers.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned the killing, which he said "reflects the determination of the Israeli government to continue the path of military solutions rather than negotiations."