Israel misses target, kills innocent man 26 bystanders injured as Hamas gunmen escape missile attack

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip--Israel accelerated its deadly campaignagainst militants Tuesday, killing a water-pipe vendor in a botchedmissile strike against Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip that alsowounded 26 bystanders.

Three Hamas members managed to flee their car in a crowded GazaCity street before the missiles hit, witnesses said. Five childrenwere among the wounded, doctors said.

Israel has killed seven militants in two missile raids in Gaza andstepped up military operations in the West Bank since 21 people diedin a Hamas suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus last week. Hours beforethe Gaza Strike, Israeli soldiers dressed as Arabs snatched twowounded militants, one involved in a suicide bombing, from their bedsin a West Bank hospital.

The violence has frozen progress on the U.S.-backed "road map"peace plan and exposed the reluctance of Palestinian Prime MinisterMahmoud Abbas to confront the armed groups.

The Israeli crackdown, backed by warnings that every militant ismarked for death, has also forced members of Hamas and other groupsto go deeper into hiding. Hamas members said they were changing theirappearances--shaving beards, losing weight, even wearing women'srobes. Leaflets hung in mosques throughout the Gaza Strip instructedHamas activists to take precautions--such as not traveling in groups,avoiding use of their telephones--so as not to present easy targets.

In the latest Israeli operation, a helicopter fired three missilesat a car stuck in a traffic jam on a crowded residential street justnorth of Gaza City, near the Jebaliya refugee camp.

"The people in the car jumped out and ran in two differentdirections" after one rocket hit near the front of the white car,said Shadi Tayan, who owns a bookstore in the area. After the menfled, two more missiles hit.

Hamas sources said the car was carrying three of its members,including Khaled Masoud, the brother of a Hamas military wingcommander killed in an Israeli raid in Gaza three months ago. Theysaid Masoud was wounded in the strike. An Israeli security officialsaid Masoud was responsible for building crude rockets of the typeregularly fired into Israel and Jewish settlements in Gaza--almostinvariably missing their targets.

The dead man, Hassan Hamlawi, 65, had been sitting outside hiswater-pipe shop when the missiles hit nearby. Blood stained thesidewalk amid the scattered plastic chairs in front of the store.

Israel says it has no choice but to hunt down militants becausePalestinian leaders have not dismantled the armed groups--a keyrequirement of the peace plan.

"Israel has taken a dangerous decision to continue thisassassination policy," Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas'security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, said in a statement. "They wantthere to be a civil war between the Palestinians." AP