A senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement was among at least eight people killed and 40 injured in a blast in the Gaza Strip late on Friday, a group spokesman and local medics said. According to Reuters, the spokesman accused Israel of mounting an air strike that destroyed a house and vowed revenge. But, an Israeli military spokesman said he was aware of no such action.
Witnesses said the three-story home of Ayman Atallah Fayed had completely collapsed, and that six nearby homes were also badly damaged. Also among the dead were Fayed's wife and son.
The explosion took place in Fayed's house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Health Ministry official Moawiya Hassanain said 40 people were hurt, including nine who were in critical condition.
Fayed was a senior member of the Islamic Jihad military wing, and the group confirmed he was among the dead, vowing to carry out reprisal attacks against Israel. "We will respond to this Zionist massacre painfully," Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad said. "We will strike the enemy everywhere."
