The Israeli army will continue its policy of killing targeted members of the radical Palestinian group Hamas, an Israeli official said yesterday, following a failed airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

"Our liquidation operations are going to continue against everyone implicated in terrorist attacks, in the preparation of attacks or in the firing of rockets," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

"No terrorist should expect to benefit from the least impunity," the official added. "We will continue to act when and where we judge useful, with all means necessary, until the Palestinian Authority decides to fight the terrorists as it is committed to doing."

A Palestinian was killed Tuesday evening and more than 20 others wounded in a failed helicopter strike in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hamas said the targets had been Wael Akilan and Khaled Massoud, two members of the group's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

The army said the raid had targeted Massoud, who it said had fired Qassam rockets into Israel.