Israeli soldiers today killed two Palestinian militant commanders with an air strike on their car in a Gaza refugee camp, a day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanded Palestinian leaders wage a war against armed groups.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the reported attack in Jabalya refugee camp, a militant stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip.
Witnesses said an Israeli aircraft attacked a car, killing Hassan al-Madhoun, a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander, and Fawzi Abu al-Qarea, leader of Hamas's armed wing in Jabalya.
The two men were travelling in a car with a red Palestinian Authority security licence plate, the witnesses said.
Over the past week, Israel has carried out numerous strikes against militants in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, killing 13 Palestinians, most of them gunmen.
The Israeli attacks followed a suicide bombing that killed five people in Israel and cross-border rocket attacks mounted by the Islamic Jihad group, which said on Sunday it would halt such launches if Israeli raids stopped.
In a policy speech yesterday, Mr Sharon demanded the Palestinian Authority "wage a real war on terror" before peace talks can resume in the wake of Israel's Gaza pullout.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who along with Sharon declared a ceasefire in February, has urged militants not to carry their weapons in public but has resisted US and Israeli calls to disarm them, citing fears of civil war.