NABLUS, West Bank (Islamweb & News Agencies) - A Palestinian bombmaker was killed on Monday in an explosion which officials from the militant Islamic group Hamas blamed on Israel.Hamas officials said Ayman Halaweh, 26, was killed when a booby-trapped car he was traveling in exploded in the West Bank city of Nablus.
They identified Halaweh as a ``commander'' in the group's military wing, Izz el-Din al-Qassam, and its third most senior bombmaker wanted by Israel.
``With honor and glory we announce a new martyr, Ayman Halaweh...who was assassinated by the Israeli intelligence services this night,'' a Hamas official told a crowd of hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside the Nablus hospital where Halaweh's body was brought.
Hospital officials initially identified the man killed as Azmi al-Masri, based on what appeared to be a false identity card on his body. A second Palestinian was in critical condition from the blast.
Israeli officials had no immediate comment on the explosion.
Palestinian witnesses said the blast turned Halaweh's car into a mangled wreck. It bore yellow license plates similar to those issued in Israel.
Israel has tracked and killed more than 60 Palestinian militants it says are behind attacks on Israelis in a year-long Palestinian uprising against occupation. The policy has been condemned internationally.
Israel's occupation army deployed heavily in and around six Palestinian cities last week after Palestinian radicals assassinated an Israeli cabinet minister.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A top bombmaker from the militant Islamic group Hamas was killed October 22, 2001 in an explosion Hamas officials blamed on Israel, stoking Palestinian anger in a year-long uprising against Israeli occupation. Palestinians inspect damage to the car of Ayman Halaweh following the blast in the West Bank city of Nablus. (Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters)