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Outrage:Lebanon's Hezbollah members and relatives carry the coffin of Hassan al-Laqqis.Credit:Reuters

"Direct accusation is aimed,of course,against the Israeli enemy,which had tried to eliminate our martyred brother again and again and in several places,but had failed,until yesterday evening.

"This enemy must bear full responsibility for and all the consequences of this heinous crime,"Hezbollah said on its Al-Manar television channel without elaborating.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor dismissed the allegations as"yet another Pavlovian response from Hezbollah,which makes automatic accusations (against Israel) before even thinking about what's actually happened."

"Israel has nothing to do with this,"he said.

Target:Hezbollah accuses Israel of killing one of its leaders,Hassan Hawlo al-Lakiss.

The Hezbollah channel said Lakiss had been shot repeatedly with a silenced handgun after parking his car in the building where he lived,adding that more than one assailant took part in the attack.

A source in the Shiite movement said Lakiss was close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Lakiss'killing comes seven months after Hezbollah first openly admitted it is fighting in neighbouring Syria alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Hezbollah's decision to intervene in Syria has fuelled tensions inside Lebanon,which is bitterly divided over the war.

Nasrallah again defended his group's involvement in Syria on Tuesday in an interview with Lebanese broadcaster OTV,saying it was fighting to protect Lebanon from the Syrian rebels,who include jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda.

AFP