Israeli security sources said Abu Shanab was targeted because he was involved in planning militant attacks.
The Palestinian Authority and independent analysts had considered Abu Shanab among the few relative moderates in Hamas. He joined several rounds of dialogue between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority on the ceasefire with Israel.
The death toll from Tuesday's suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus packed with ultra-Orthodox Jews rose to 20 yesterday after one person died in hospital and another's remains were identified from DNA checks, Israeli police said.
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