After Hamas No. 1, Israel kills No. 2

In chaotic scenes, a crowd of Palestinians swarmed around the wreckage of the white car, pulling out what appeared to be fragments of clothing. Hamas issued an immediate vow of revenge.

‘‘Israel will regret this. Revenge is coming,’’ senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said. ‘‘This blood will not be wasted. It is our fate in Hamas and it is our fate as Palestinians to die as martyrs. The battle will not weaken our determination or break our will,’’ he said.

The air strike occurred hours after an Israeli border policeman was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber at the main Erez crossing on the Israeli-Gaza border.

No immediate comment was available from Israel on Rantissi’s killing. Israel has been vowing to kill leaders of Hamas because of its attacks against the Jewish state.

Rantissi, a co-founder of Hamas, has become one of its two main leaders since Israel’s killing of Hamas spiritual head Ahmed Yassin in Gaza on March 22.

Israel tried to kill Rantissi, public face of a Palestinian militant group that normally stays in the shadows, last June. On that occasion he and his teenage son were wounded in an Israeli helicopter missile strike on his car, also in Gaza City. Rantissi had refused to go into hiding like many of his comrades on Israel’s wanted list since Hamas launched a suicide bombing campaign to spearhead a three-and-a-half year-old Palestinian uprising.

He had long depicted himself as a Hamas politician with no links to the military wing.

However, Israel had refused to accept the distinction, accusing him of being a top decision-maker on attacks and of using his media role to incite violence. — (Reuters)