Jerusalem — A senior Hamas commander died in an Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza late Thursday, the Israeli military said, and five other Palestinians were killed in separate incidents.
Tension ran high amid expectations of further violence. Because of the flare-up, U.S. officials put a truce mediation effort by envoy Anthony Zinni on indefinite hold.
In Gaza after nightfall, witnesses said an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car, killing one Palestinian and wounding two others.
The Israeli military identified the dead Palestinian as Adli Hamdan and said he was the senior Hamas commander in Khan Younis, responsible for dozens of attacks.
But Palestinians gave a differing description. They identified him as Bakr Hamdan, 28, a member of the Hamas military wing and a relative of the top Hamas leader in the Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The attack took place in the Khan Younis refugee camp. It was the latest Israeli targeted killing of suspected militants in Palestinian areas. Palestinians call the attacks assassinations and demand they be stopped.
About the same time, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians who were trying to infiltrate a settlement in Gaza, Israel Radio reported. The military said soldiers opened fire on a band of armed terrorists trying to attack a settlement.
Earlier in Gaza, the mangled bodies of two Palestinians were found after daybreak. The militant Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the two were killed in a "heroic martyrs' operation." Israel radio said it was apparently a failed suicide bomb attack against a nearby Jewish settlement.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, a Palestinian intelligence officer was killed in a clash with Israeli forces early Thursday. Israeli tanks are parked about 70 yards from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters there.
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