The U.S. State Department spokesman again this past Monday condemned Israel\'s policy of pinpoint offensive strikes against wanted terrorists. The practice is part of Israel\'s self-defense policy of thwarting terror attacks in advance and limiting collateral damage to innocent persons. The spokesman added that the ongoing US offensive in Afghanistan cannot be compared with Israel\'s response to terror attacks against it. He called the Israeli policy a \"provocation and a stumbling block to peace.\"
Palestinian sources report that, in addition to the two terrorists killed this week under \"suspicious\" circumstances, a third Hamas member was killed yesterday when an explosive device went off inside his house in Rafiach, southern Gaza. The IDF did not comment. On Sunday, leading Hamas terrorist Abed Rahman Hamed, who organized the Dolphinarium slaughter in which 21 Israelis were killed, was killed outside his home, and yesterday, another leading terrorist was killed in a car bomb explosion.