RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY, 14 February 2008 — Although the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday rejected Hezbollah’s claims that Israel had assassinated Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Imad Mughniyeh in a bomb blast in Damascus, Israeli politicians, former defense officials and media hailed the gruesome killing.
Olmert’s office said in a press statement that “Israel is sifting through the reports from Lebanon and Syria regarding the death of the high-ranking Hezbollah official and is studying, for the first time, the details emanating from their portrayal in the media in the past hours.” “Israel rejects the attempt of terrorist elements to pin any involvement in this incident on it. Beyond that, there is nothing to add.”
Member of Israeli Knesset of Likud party Silvan Shalom said that “Mughniyeh was living on borrowed time. He is responsible for many deaths and his passing is a contribution to the international community’s war against terror.” Knesset Member of Labor Party, Danny Yatom, welcomed the death of Mughniyeh calling it “a great achievement for the free world in its fight on terror.”
“Mughniyeh was one of the most dangerous and cruel terrorists of all time,” said the former chief of Israeli external spy agency Mossad.
Several Palestinian factions condemned the assassination of Mughniyeh. They held Israel responsible for his assassination. The Hamas movement described the incident as “a coward assassination,” and an example of the “Zionist roistering,” and it points to the nature of the criminal mentality of the Israeli occupation.
Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah movement, also threatened to seismically respond for the “crime.” It held Israel being behind Mughniyeh assassination.
Al-Naser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said that “the assassination of Mughniyeh is a huge loss to the resistance organizations in Palestine and Lebanon, but it won’t hurt the continuation of the resistance.”
