Yassin was killed leaving a mosque in his wheel chair in the Sabra quarter.

Three rockets fired by an Israeli helicopter hit nearby, killing Yassin, two of his assitants and a passer-by.

An AFP correspondent saw Yassin's body at Gaza's al-Shifa hospital.

Yassin has been a leading proponent that Palestinians have no choice but to violently resist Israeli occupation, and Hamas has been a leading force in the Palestinian intifada.

Earlier this month Yassin justified as legitimate suicide bombings by two teenagers in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod which killed 10 civilians and wounded 20 other people.

WAR.WIRE