Damascus, Sept. 26 (Reuters): A car bomb killed a suspected Hamas military chief in Damascus today. The Palestinian militant group blamed Israel and vowed to retaliate.

Izz el-Deen al-Sheikh Khalil, believed to be in charge of Hamas? military wing outside the Palestinian territories, died when an explosive charge placed under the driver?s seat ripped through his SUV car in the Az-Zahera neighbourhood of the Syrian capital, witnesses said.

The explosion went off shortly after Khalil started the engine, witnesses said. Three passers-by were wounded.

?He (Khalil) said good morning to us like he does every day and then walked to his car,? a neighbour who identified himself only as Nabil said.

?He got into the car and then the phone rang. When he took the call we heard the explosion. We rushed towards his car and found him in pieces in the back seat.?

A spokesperson for the militant Palestinian group in Gaza said the killing was ?a cowardly crime by the Zionist Mossad?, Israel?s intelligence agency.

A statement issued later today by Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, threatened to target Israelis abroad.