Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met with senior IDF officers this morning to determine why an Israeli air strike yesterday failed to hit Adnan al-Ghoul, senior explosive expert of the Hamas. Palestinian sources claimed that one of the most wanted Hamas terrorists, Mohammed Deif, also escaped unscathed when a helicopter gunship fired missiles at a convoy of cars in the Gaza Strip. Israeli military sources raised doubts this morning that Deif was in the area at the time of the strike.

An official statement issued by the IDF said terrorist cells engaged in mortar bombings were spotted near the El Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip yesterday evening. "Helicopters were dispatched to the area and struck the terrorists, their vehicles, and their equipment," the statement said.

Ha'aretz dismissed the IDF Spokesman's statement by noting there were no reports of mortar fire in the area at the time of the IAF attack, and doubted that senior Hamas activists would personally be involved in the firing of mortars.

According to media reports, two Apache helicopters fired at least four laser-guided Hellfire missiles at two cars traveling on a road near the camp. Palestinian sources said the cars' drivers noticed they were being tracked and drove into an open field in attempts to avoid the missiles. One car reportedly crashed into a wall and was hit by a missile. By the time the second car was hit, its occupants had succeeded in fleeing unharmed.

Killed in the strike was Bilal al-Ghoul, 23, a Fatah activist who served in the Palestinian Authority's counter-security force under the command of Mohammed Dahlan. Another wanted Palestinian, Sa'id al-Arbid, was seriously injured.

Military analysts believe that Bilal's father, Adnan al-Ghoul, was the primary target of the missile strike. Al-Ghoul is considered second in command of the Hamas's military wing and the organization's leading explosives expert in the Gaza Strip. He is believed to have prepared the explosive devices used in the suicide bombing attacks in Jerusalem in the spring of 1996. Senior security officials cited in the media said al-Ghoul was directly responsible for the killing of almost 100 Israelis and the injuring of hundreds more.

Hamas spokesman Mahmoud al-Zahar described the incident as "an Israeli attempt to assassinate a senior member of Hamas.'' al-Zahar promised revenge for the attack. "Israel's actions will be answered… Our response will be more and more suicide bombing attacks, in all areas of Palestine," he said.

Palestinian sources said that Mohammed Deif was in the car with al-Ghoul and escaped the strike unharmed. ynet reported that the IDF received intelligence reports of senior Hamas leaders traveling in the convoy. "We had some presumptions, but no concrete information on the identities," an unnamed senior officer told the Jerusalem Post.

Ha'aretz suggested that the IDF investigation into the missile strike would "focus on whether intelligence was lacking (specifically, which car was al-Ghoul traveling in), or [whether] the missile strike itself [was] ineffective."

Palestinian sources reported this morning that the IDF failed in another "assassination" attempt near Nablus. Senior Fatah activist Jihad Masimi, 46, an officer in the Palestinian Authority police suspected of involvement in shooting attacks, emerged with light injuries when an IAF Apache helicopter reportedly launched two missiles at his car. Masimi's bodyguard and a few other Palestinians were reportedly injured in the attack.

The IDF Spokesman confirmed the attack, stating that Masimi had recently been planning terrorist strikes against Israelis in the Shomron region.

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