Hostilities then escalated. The Israeli army killed Islamic Jihad's Muhammad Seeder on 14 August 2003; the Jerusalem bus 2 massacre by Hamas and Islamic Jihad on 19 August, killed 23 and wounded 136 people. Israel reacted causing large-scale destruction to Palestinian population centres. On 21 August, Israel assassinated Hamas' political leader Ismail Abu Shanab. Shanab, who supported a two-state solution, strongly opposed suicide bombings and tried to uphold the ceasefire, was regarded as one of Hamas's more moderate and pragmatic leaders. Along with Shanab, three other civilians (his two bodyguards and a 74-year-old man) were killed. The following days it continued with a range of further Israeli killing-attacks. The assassinations of Seeder and Shanab resulted in Hamas calling off the ceasefire with Israel. International criticism of Israel increased because Israel was widely believed to be unwilling to respect the truce.