Hamas says Israel has killed one of its top leaders in Gaza, interior minister Said Siam.
Al-Quds television, a Hamas station based in Beirut on Thursday that "Said Siam, his son and his brother fell as martyrs in Gaza."
A Hamas website has confirmed the report.
They died in an Israeli air strike on a house north of Gaza City. The Israeli military has confirmed the strike.
He belonged to the hardline wing of Hamas and created the Executive Force, a militia that played a key role in the takeover of Gaza by Hamas in June 2007.
