The military, which initially declined to comment, said Muhammad Jamal Nimnim was a senior leader in the Salafist freedom military group Jaish Al-Islam (Army of Islam) and had been "personally involved in directing several attacks against Israeli targets in recent years."
Nimnim was killed in his car in Gaza City, and one other man, who witnesses said was a passenger in the vehicle, was injured and taken to hospital. Several bystanders were also injured.
Palestinian witnesses and security officials told the German news agency DPA that the explosion in the car was caused by a bomb planted under the driver's seat.
Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich of the Israeli military told DPA, "I don't want to tell you exactly how this happened, but he was targeted with a bomb."
Earlier witnesses told Ma'an the explosion was the result of a bomb dropped by an unmanned Israeli drone. The Interior Ministry in Gaza also reported earlier in the day that the explosion was the result of a drone strike.
In its statement claiming the assassination, Israel's army said Nimnim had recently assisted in "directing a attack against American and Israeli targets in the Sinai Peninsula, in cooperation with Hamas elements in the Gaza Strip."
Israel issued a travel warning for nationals in the Sinai following the launch of at least three shells toward the Red Sea in August. Two landed in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, killing a cab driver, while one other landed in the Israeli port city of Eilat.
On 17 September, Israeli forces entered the home of a Hamas leader in Tulkarem and shot him dead.
The 38-year-old, Iyad As’ad Shelbaya, a known Hamas leader, was killed by three bullets to the neck and chest. At the time, the Israeli military said the man was killed when he attempted to evade arrest.
Controversy broke out over the January assassination of Hamas leader and businessman Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, carried out by Israeli Mossad agents.
In December 2009, Israeli forces broke into the home of four Fatah members in Nablus and executed them. At the time, military representatives said all four men were shot by soldiers as they resisted arrest.
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