Israel Implicated in Hamas Leader’s Death

With “99 percent, if not 100 percent” certainty, Dubai police believe that the death of a Hamas commander in Dubai last month came at the hands of a hit squad from Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. Hamas has accused Israel of the leader’s assassination.

The announcement from Dubai puts Israel at odds with Britain and sets up a potentially explosive diplomatic fight between the two countries because of reports that the alleged Mossad hit group stole the identities of U.K. citizens and used fake British passports.  —JCL

The Guardian:

Dubai police said today they were virtually certain Mossad was behind the assassination of a Hamas commander, as the incident threatened to turn into a diplomatic row between Israel and Britain over the use of false British passports.

“Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. It is 99%, if not 100%, that Mossad is standing behind the murder,” Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim told the National newspaper in the United Arab Emirates.

Britain fired the first shot last night in a potentially explosive diplomatic row with Israel by calling in the country’s ambassador to explain the use of fake British passports by a hit squad who targeted Mabhouh in Dubai last month.

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AP / Khalil Hamra

Fayeq al-Mabhouh is flanked by posters of his brother, Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was killed in a Dubai hotel.