Israel killed a top Hamas official in Dubai last week, an official told Reuters on Friday.
The official, identified as Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, was thought to be behind the assassinations of two Israeli soldiers, Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon, in the 1980s. He was a member of Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
"I cannot reveal the circumstances. We are working with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates," said Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' politburo, speaking in Damascus.
Al-Rishq said he was killed on 20 January in Dubai, the day after he arrived from Syria, where he lived.
Al-Mabhouh had served as a liaison between Iran and Hamas, according to various reports, helping to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. He had been jailed several times by Israel, whose forces reportedly destroyed his Gaza home at some point.
"We in Hamas hold the Zionist enemy responsible for the criminal assassination of our brother, and we pledge to God and to the blood of the martyrs and to our people to continue his path of jihad and martyrdom," read a statement on a Hamas' news site. Full story
Israeli media: Mossad responsible for Al-Mabhouh assassination
Ma'anA four-person squad of Israeli Shin Bet and Mossad operatives arrived in Dubai on European passports to assassinate Muhammad Al-Mabhouh... Israeli media reported on Saturday.
According to the Israeli news-site Inyan Merkazi, the assassination squad interrogated Al-Mabhouh in his hotel room before killing him.
The squad returned with "precious information" attained following Al-Mabhouh's interrogation, which was focused on arms deals between Hamas and Iran, as well as how arms are smuggled into the West Bank, the news-site reported....
After the funeral in Al-Yarmuk Refugee Camp south of Damascus, Mash’al said "we will avenge this man. If you [Israel] were happy to assassinate a great man who bravely assassinated your soldiers, then this happiness is going to pass.
"Don’t be so happy. We will avenge Al-Mabhouh. Do not think that we will abandon the choice of resistance. Not settlement, occupation, killing, nor the wall will weaken our resistance."...
... the information office of the government in the United Arab Emirates said that Dubai police were able to identify the suspects who killed the Hamas leader, saying they all hold European passports.
....the suspects left behind evidence that will lead to their eventual capture and arrest... Full story
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