Car bomb

A car bomb in the Syrian capital has killed a senior member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Hamas officials say military commander Izz el-Deen al-Sheikh Khalil was killed Sunday morning while starting his car.

Hamas immediately blamed Israel for the attack, and officials in the Gaza Strip threatened to carry out reprisals against Israeli targets abroad. But a Hamas official in Lebanon says no such decision has been made.

In Damascus, the Syrian news agency called the attack an assassination, and said Israel bears full responsibility for its consequences.

Israel has not commented. But early this month, Israeli authorities promised to strike Hamas leaders abroad.

The Israeli threat came one day after Hamas-linked suicide bombers killed 16 people on two buses in southern Israel.

Story supplied by: VOAnews