Jamal Abu Samhadana in August 2005. (Wesam Saleh, Maan Images)

On Thursday evening in Gaza, Israel assassinated Jamal Abu Samhadana, the Palestinian Authority's Interior Ministry General Supervisor and leader of the Popular Resistance Committees. Hamas appointed him head of its 3,000 member Gaza force which it first deployed late last month. Below, the IMEU presents a roundup of breaking news stories. To read the full article, click on the link provided with each article.

To interview a Palestinian expert regarding this event contact the IMEU at 510-451-2600 or info@imeu.net

From Haaretz:

An Israel Air Force strike on a Palestinian militants' training camp in Gaza on Thursday night killed the Hamas government's security chief, Jamal Abu Samhadana, his militant faction and Palestinian hospital officials said.

Abu Samhadana, who headed the Popular Resistance Committees, was killed along with at least three other PRC operatives, and 10 more were wounded, hospital officials said.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed striking the PRC camp in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, saying militants there were planning a large-scale attack on Israel. The IDF declined to comment on whether the strike had been a "targeted assassination."

The bombing, which was approved by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, was aimed at a PRC training camp set up on the ruins of the Slav settlement in the southern part of what had been Gush Katif settlement bloc.

From the BBC:

A senior Palestinian official in the Gaza Strip has died in an Israeli air strike in the town of Rafah.

Jamal Abu Samhadana founded the Popular Resistance Committees, which regularly launches home-made rockets into Israel.

Samhadana, a senior security chief in the Hamas-led government, was one of four killed in the attack on a training camp, which injured seven others.

From YNet News:

The Air Force has killed the Palestinian Authority's Interior Ministry General Supervisor, Jamal Abu Samhadana, who ruled over one of the most powerful terrorist organizations in Gaza.

At least three other people were killed and seven others were wounded in the attack. Abu Samhadana was considered to be one of the most wanted individuals by Israel.

He survived at least four previous assassination attempts and was wanted from the time of the first intifada.

At around 11:30 p.m. an Air Force craft attacked a training camp of the Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committee, in the Rafah area.

The IDF confirmed that it carried out an aerial attack.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Hours after Defense Minister Amir Peretz threatened to assassinate terrorists involved in rockets attacks against Israel, an IAF aircraft fired missiles at a Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) training camp in the southern Gaza Strip late Thursday night killing four terror suspects including Jamal Abu Sahamdana, head of the PRC and responsible for most of the Kassam rocket attacks against Israel.

IDF sources confirmed the attack, claiming that Sahamdana and the other terrorists were in the midst of training a terror attack they planned to perpetrate against Israel when the missiles struck. Earlier in the day, Peretz ordered the IDF to step up the targeted killings of Palestinians involved in Kassam attacks against Israel.

From The Associated Press:

An Israeli airstrike Thursday killed the top Hamas enforcer in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital officials and group members said.

Israel has accused militant faction leader Jamal Abu Samhadana of spearheading rocket attacks on Israel and of the fatal 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip.

Two other people were killed and seven were wounded in a strike on a Popular Resistance Committees training camp.

The 43-year-old militant had been No. 2 on Israel's wanted list and had tried to avoid detection by moving stealthily, switching cars and hideouts.

In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Abu Samhadana railed against the U.S. government, saying he's happy whenever American soldiers are killed and vowed not to take Hamas' 3,000-strong militia off the streets.