DAMASCUS: Israel assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai who played a major role in a Palestinian uprising in the 1980s, an official in the group said on Friday.
Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, an Israeli target since engineering the capture of Israeli soldiers two decades ago, was killed on Jan. 20, Izzat Al-Rishq told Reuters in the Syrian capital Damascus.
A government statement issued in Dubai on Friday said police identified several European passport holders among a gang of suspects in the killing of the Hamas commander.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the crime was committed by a professional criminal gang that was following the victim before he came to the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 19,” the statement said, quoting Dubai police.
It said that the members of the gang, “mostly holders of European passports,” managed to flee the country before the death of Al-Mabhouh was reported.
Israel has killed dozens of leaders and military figures in Hamas, which was founded two decades ago as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation.
“I cannot reveal the circumstances (of the killing). We are working with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates,” said Al-Rishq, who is a member of Hamas’ politburo.
Al-Rishq said Al-Mabhouh, 50, was an “important” member of Izz El-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades.
He said the Brigades “will respond (against Israel) in the appropriate time and place,” but Hamas will not let the killing derail efforts to arrange for a prisoners’ exchange deal between Hamas and Israel that have run into difficulties.
Al-Mabhouh, who was born in the Gaza Strip but had been living in Syria since 1989, was assassinated a day after he arrived in Dubai, Al-Rishq added.
He was buried on Friday at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk on the edge of Damascus. Hamas’ green flag covered the body as it was lowered into the grave. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made an impassionate speech to the thousands of mourners and described Al-Mabhouh as a “great man” who fought the Israelis for 30 years. “I say to you Zionists, do not rejoice. You killed him but his sons will fight you,” he said. “God already took our leaders and loved ones, but resistance goes on. Palestine is a blessed land. It will not remain patient.”
Another Palestinian source said Al-Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai.
He had barricaded the door of his room with chairs, a standard precaution by a man who felt that Israeli intelligence has been after him for 20 years.
“It seems that an autopsy was ordered and traces of poison were found in his body. Al-Mabhouh was also ill. Hamas controls the information on this,” the source said.
“He was one of their main military guys, although not a crucial figure,” the source added.
Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza, said Al-Mabhouh was killed by “advanced technical means.” He did not elaborate.
Al-Mabhouh’s brother, Fayek, told Reuters in Gaza that his brother was killed “by strangulation after receiving an electric shock” and that two people were involved in the killing. Al-Rishq, who lives in exile in Damascus, along with several of Hamas’ main figures, said Al-Mabhouh engineered the capture of two Israeli soldiers during the Palestinian uprising in the 1980s. The soldiers were later killed.
Al-Mabhouh was imprisoned several times by Israeli forces. Israel razed his home in Gaza, Al-Rishq added.
A diplomat in Damascus said it was too early to say if Al-Mabhouh’s past was linked to his death.
“The Israelis have a long memory for sure, but one cannot draw conclusions yet. It might be easier for the Israelis to kill him in Dubai than in Damascus,” the diplomat said.
The United States, which has started a rapprochement with Damascus, wants Syrian authorities to help neutralize Hamas as an armed Middle East force. Syria, which is seeking peace with Israel, resisted US pressure several years ago to expel the Hamas leadership.
