Thousands bury Islamic militant killed in Israeli house demolition

<br>BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (AP) _ A Hamas activist was critically wounded Tuesday in an explosion in his home, while thousands marched in the funeral procession of another Islamic militant killed earlier

Tuesday, February 25th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (AP) _ A Hamas activist was critically wounded Tuesday in an explosion in his home, while thousands marched in the funeral procession of another Islamic militant killed earlier this week during the demolition of his home by Israeli troops.

The cause of Tuesday's explosion in the Bureij refugee camp, south of Gaza City, was not immediately clear. In the past, Palestinian militants building bombs have inadvertently set off explosives, causing death and injury. Others have been killed in targeted Israeli attacks, but no Israeli attack helicopters were seen over Bureij on Tuesday.

The explosion went off in the home of Mohammed Baghdadi, 30, who lost a leg and suffered severe injuries to his upper body, doctors said. Baghdadi is a former bodyguard of Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

The Islamic militant group is responsible for scores of suicide bombings in Israel in recent years, and has said it would retaliate with more attacks for Israel's two-week military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, thousands marched in the funeral procession of Abdallah al-Saba, 52, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad group. Al-Saba was killed Sunday, after he refused to leave his home targeted for demolition by Israeli troops.

Al-Saba's family left the building after a four-hour standoff, during which al-Saba and his three adult sons threw hand grenades and fired shots at Israeli troops. After the family left, soldiers blew up the building. Al-Saba's body was discovered under the rubble on Monday, and it remained unclear whether troops knew at the time of the demolition that he was still inside the house.

The house was targeted for demolition after one of al-Saba's sons, Mustafa, attacked Israel soldiers guarding an industrial park in Gaza last week before being shot to death.

On Tuesday, mourners standing on the rubble of al-Saba's home chanted: ``You sacrificed your son, your house and yourself to go to heaven.''

Al-Saba was a senior member of Islamic Jihad, and had spent several years in Israeli jails.

Israel has demolished dozens of family homes of suspected militants since the summer, hoping to deter future attacks on Israelis. Al-Saba was the first homeowner to resist demolition by force.

In Nablus, a 23-year-old Palestinian wounded when Israeli soldiers fired on rock-throwers in the West Bank city of Nablus on Feb. 16 died Tuesday, hospital officials said.