Israeli missiles kill militants in taxi

Hunud

NABLUS, West Bank (CNN) -- An Israeli helicopter attack on a taxi killed three people, including two members of the militant Islamic group Hamas, on Friday.

Hamas sources in the nearby city of Nablus said a top militant in the group, Abu Hunud, was one of those killed. One Palestinian security source called his death an "assassination."

The Palestinian security source said an Israeli Apache helicopter fired two missiles at the taxi.

One body was found outside the taxi; the other two were inside the car.

The source said Israeli tanks were firing around the car for 15 minutes after the missile attack, preventing ambulances from approaching the scene.

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The two men found in the car were identified by the Palestinian source as brothers.

One of the men was identified as Maamun Hashaikeh. The name of the second man in the car was not immediately available.

The Israeli army declined comment.

Nearby in Beit Iba, two Palestinians were killed in an explosion. And hospital sources in Gaza said a teenager died in a shooting incident at Khan Younis in clashes with the Israeli army after funerals for five boys who were killed Thursday when they kicked an unexploded tank shell.

In another incident, the Palestine Red Crescent said the Israeli army opened fire on a car in southern Gaza, killing one Palestinian man and leaving two others -- a man and a woman -- clinically dead.

Another woman sustained moderate wounds, the Red Crescent said.

The Israeli army said soldiers fired warning shots into the air as the car drove toward and away from the Rafah border crossing several times. As the vehicle approached another time, they open fired.

The army said it was on high alert after intelligence revealed the threat of a car bomb at the border crossing.

Palestinian security sources said the people were lost on their way to the crossing.