Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, April 23

GAZA -- An Islamic Hamas movement militant was killed on Monday in an explosion in the northern Gaza Strip, the local health ministry said.

Mohamad Maqadma, 55, was killed in an explosion in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, said Ashraf al Qedra, a health ministry spokesman in Gaza. (Gaza-Hamas-Explosion)

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SANAA -- Yemen's dominant Houthi rebels on Monday announced that their top official, President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad, was killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, according to a statement carried by Houthi-controlled state Saba news agency.

They said al-Sammad was killed, at the age of 39, on Thursday in Hodeidah city. Houthis vowed to revenge his death, said the statement, which provided no further details on the circumstances of his death. (Yemen-Houthi)

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JERUSALEM -- Blazing kites from the Gaza Strip set fire in a wheat field in southern Israel amid a wave of protest in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

A spokesperson for the Sha'ar Ha'Negev Regional Council said several Molotov cocktails attached to kites were sent from Gaza to Israel. (Israel-Gaza-Kites)

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RIYADH -- Saudi air defense has intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi militias towards the border city of Jazan, according to Al Arabiya television on Monday.

The spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen against Houthis, Col. Turki Al Maliki, accused the militias of targeting residential areas of civilians. (Saudi Arabia-Fire) Enditem