A senior Islamic Jihad official and his brother were killed in southern Lebanon on Friday in a car bombing the Palestinian group blamed on Israel. An Israeli government source said the Jewish state "has nothing to do" with the attack on Mahmoud Majzoub, known as Abu Hamze, and his brother Nidal, also an Islamic Jihad member, in the port city of Sidon.
"This is an Israeli attack and a dangerous escalation," Islamic Jihad official Ali Abu Shahine told Reuters in Beirut. "Israel will be held responsible for this attack which crosses red lines by targeting officials outside the Palestinian territories and that changes things."
The bomb was planted in a parked car and exploded as they approached, security sources said. The explosive, which Islamic Jihad said was detonated remotely, reduced the vehicle to a charred mass of twisted metal, showering the area with debris.
Initial reports had suggested the explosion occurred when Abu Hamze started his car, but security sources said later the bomb had been planted in a stolen vehicle.
Abu Hamze's brother died instantly, while he succumbed to his wounds hours later during surgery, Jihad officials said. Abu Hamze had escaped an attempt on his life some years ago.
Fellow group Hamas, which won the Palestinian elections and now controls the government, condemned the attack, which it also blamed on Israel. "We consider this Zionist crime a dangerous escalation through the enemy's attempt to widen the circle of confrontation and avert the gaze from the crimes it continues to commit in the Palestinian territories," Hamas said in a statement.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad al-Siniora indirectly blamed Israel for the attack, saying it was not interested in a calm Lebanon.
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