Israel army says it killed senior Islamist in Gaza blast

The Israeli army said it killed a senior Islamist militant yesterday in the explosion of his car in Gaza City, adding that it held him responsible for attacks on US and Israeli targets.

Mohammed Jamil al-Nemnem, 27, a senior commander of the Army of Islam, a group that espouses an Al-Qaeda-like ideology, was killed when his car exploded outside the Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City.

Several hours after the blast, an army spokesman confirmed Nemnem had been targeted in a joint operation by the military and the Shin Bet internal security service.

She charged that he had been involved in a number of attacks, one of which targeted Israeli and US nationals in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

“He was involved in several attacks against Israeli targets in the last few years and he was involved in directing a terror attack against US and Israeli targets in the Sinai in coordination with Hamas elements in the Gaza Strip,” she said, without giving further details.

Later, Israeli army spokesman Major Avital Leibovich described Nemnem as “a ticking bomb”,who was planning a major attack against Israeli civilians.

“He is a senior leader and since we had the right opportunity with intelligence and operational means, we had this window of opportunity (to kill him) and we succeeded,” she told reporters.

Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of Nemnem, vowing revenge for the death of a man who was the second-in-command of the Army of Islam and believed to be behind the 2007 kidnapping of British journalist Alan Johnston.

Another three people were wounded when the car exploded, medical officials in the Hamas-run health ministry said.