(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-18 08:45

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- An Israeli airstrike hit a car filled with explosives in Gaza City after nightfall Monday, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and another militant and critically wounding a third in a huge blast, witnesses and hospital officials said.

A car burns after it was hit in an Israeli missile strike, in Gaza City, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007. [Agencies]

The Israeli military said the target of the attack heard around the city was Majed Harazin, a senior Islamic Jihad militant in charge of rocket squads that have been firing at Israel.

Hours later, a second Israeli attack killed two Islamic Jihad militants in the southern part of the city, Palestinians said. It was not immediately clear if that attack was an airstrike or a missile strike. The Israelis had no immediate comment on the second attack.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Khaled el-Batch confirmed that Harazin was killed in the first attack. Harazin, a top Islamic Jihad commander for both the West Bank and Gaza, rarely traveled in vehicles for fear of an Israeli airstrike, Palestinians said. He was on Israel's wanted list for nine years, they said.

Gunfire erupted throughout the Gaza Strip after Harazin's death was announced by Islamic Jihad over loudspeakers from mosques.

Islamic Jihad supporters pledged revenge.

"The blood of our comrades will be the fuel for the rockets that will bring death and destruction to the Zionists," an Islamic Jihad spokesman, Abu Hamza, told The Associated Press.

The Israeli military often targets militants in airstrikes, aiming for squads involved in daily rocket fire.

Hamas radio said the car was filled with explosives and warned people to stay away, but people crowded around the burning vehicle. Witnesses said the initial blast was followed by smaller explosions after the car was hit while slowing down near a mosque.