Gunmen shot dead a prominent adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Gaza City this morning.
Witnesses said the attackers shot Mr Khalil al-Zebin (59) several times outside his office in Palestinian-ruled Gaza shortly after midnight
Mr Zebin, a veteran journalist who ran a Palestinian Authority-funded magazine and advised Mr Arafat on human rights and media issues, died soon after arriving at Gaza's Shifa Hospital.
Police said they were investigating but no arrests had been made. Mr Zebin was a longtime Arafat loyalist whose monthly magazine focused on the rights of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Palestinian journalists have recently staged protests demanding that the Palestinian Authority investigate recent attacks against them in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"We strongly condemn the assassination of veteran journalist Khalil al-Zebin and urge the Palestinian Authority to intervene immediately to find the perpetrators," said Mr Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Journalists' Union.