Shin Bet confirms killing terrorist in Gaza car bomb

Explosion killed a top operative in an al Qaida-affiliated Palestinian terror group who planned attacks on Israelis and Americans.

By YAAKOV KATZ, KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Gaza explosion in car with crowd (photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Gaza explosion in car with crowd
(photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Israel resumed its targeted assassinations in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a senior al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist was killed in what had initially appeared to be a car bomb in Gaza City.
Later in the evening, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed that together with the Israeli Air Force, it had carried out an operation to kill 25-year-old Mohammed al-Namnam, a top operative with the Army of Islam, a radical Palestinian terror group affiliated with al-Qaida and involved in the 2006 abduction of Gilad Schalit.
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According to the Shin Bet, Namnam, from the Shati refugee camp in Gaza, was responsible for a number of attacks against Israel in recent years. In addition, the security agency said it had obtained intelligence indicating that Namnam was in the midst of planning a number of attacks against American and Israeli targets in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hamas said that Namnam was a senior aide to Mumtaz Dughmush, commander of the Army of Islam.
The explosion occurred outside the headquarters of the Hamas security forces in Gaza City, eyewitnesses said. Four other Palestinians were wounded in the blast, they added.
Sources in the Gaza Strip revealed that Namnam was recently arrested by Hamas and interrogated about his role in firing rockets at Israel.
The sources said that Namnam was accused of violating understandings between Hamas and other Palestinian groups to halt rocket attacks on Israel.
The Army of Islam is one of numerous armed groups that have been operating in the Gaza Strip over the past few years. Its members have often clashed with Hamas.
The group was responsible for the kidnapping of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston four years ago. Its members have also been behind a series of terror attacks against Western institutions, Arab Christians and other Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The group’s leader, Mumtaz Dughmush, is a former Hamas activist. He heads the notoriously violent Dughmush clan in Gaza City.
In September 2008, a violent confrontation erupted between Hamas and the Dughmush clan in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City. The clashes began when Hamas militiamen tried to arrest two members of the clan. At least 12 clan members were killed in the confrontation.
One of those killed was Ibrahim Dughmush, the brother of Mumtaz Dughmush.