An Israeli aircraft hit a car filled with explosives in Gaza City after nightfall Monday, setting off a huge blast and killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and another militant, witnesses and hospital officials said.

A car burns after it was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City Monday.
(Wissam Nassar/Associated Press)

Hours later, a second Israeli air strike killed three Islamic Jihad militants in the southern part of the city, including a chief rocket maker, Palestinians said.

The target of the first air strike in Gaza City was Majed Harazin, a senior Islamic Jihad militant in charge of rocket squads that have been firing at Israel, the military said.

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

Another militant was killed and a third critically wounded in the attack, hospital officials said.

Gunfire erupted throughout Gaza after Harazin's death was announced by Islamic Jihad over loudspeakers from mosques. His death was called a serious blow to the militant group.

Supporters pledge revenge

Islamic Jihad supporters gathered around the morgue and pledged revenge.

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

In the second air strike shortly before midnight, the Israeli military said its aircraft targeted a cell that was about to fire rockets at Israel. Undercover agents took part in the attack, the military said, and the leader of the cell was killed.

Both Israel and Islamic Jihad identified him as Karim al-Dahdouh, known as a master rocket maker. The Israeli missiles obliterated a car on a narrow road, and rescue teams searched for body parts in a nearby grove.

The Israeli military often targets militants in air strikes, aiming for squads involved in daily rocket fire. Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for many of the barrages.

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. The car was hit while slowing down near a mosque.