Boy dies as Gaza blast kills Jihad leader's bodyguard

A vehicle was blown apart in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Gaza City today, killing the bodyguard of an Islamic Jihad leader and an 11-year-old boy, witnesses and doctors said.

Nine people were wounded in the blast, which ripped apart the front end of a white Peugeot. Some witnesses reported seeing a rocket fired from an aircraft and heard Israeli warplanes in the sky around the time of the explosion.

Israel's military has routinely targeted Palestinian militants in airstrikes throughout more than three years of fighting. An army spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

The blast killed Aziz Mahmoud al-Shami, a senior bodyguard of Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah Shami. It was not known if the Islamic Jihad leader was also in the car.