Israel struck a house in Gaza killing Hamas military commander Salah Shehada. 14 other people were also killed, and dozens wounded.
The initial report from Ha'aretz:"An Israeli warplane blew up a house in Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday morning, killing Salah Shehada, the head of the Hamas military wing in the Strip and the No. 1 man on the Israel Defense Force's wanted list in the last two years."
Palestinian sources initially denied that Shehada was dead. Finally at 0800 local time Al-Jazeera reported that Hamas confirmed that Shehada had been "martyred in an Israeli attack"
For more information on Shehada's organization, the Izz a-Din el-Qassam Brigade, see the Psychotic Death Cult Photo Album.
Here is the thread from the Al-Qassam Brigade website forum, where they're discussing their commander's martyrdom. Here is a translation of some of the entries:
From a guy who calls himself Butcher of the Zionists (posted 2002-07-22 11:17PM): A poem that starts with "To eternal paradise, O swift warrior...". He closes with "Till we meet again, O founder of the military wing (Iz ad-din Al-Qassam Martyr Brigade) As I write these lines I hear the roar of the Qassam in the highest heavens."
From ibnalqassam (posted 2002-07-22 11:39PM): "Revenge, O, Al-Qassam Brigade. We are on your path, O Sheikh"
Also check out the guy who calls himself Hitman and shares a cute picture of himself. Another guy calls himself emuhandes, "engineer", which is an honorific they give to bombmakers and other technicians of death.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 22, 2002 10:20 PM