Hamas Blames Israeli Agents For Killing Hamas Leader In Dubai

Probably the most important part of this story out of Breitbart is the fact that, yes, a senior Hamas official is dead - cold and dead. That is indeed a reason to celebrate. TGIF and TGAHID all in one day!

I haven't seen this reported anywhere else but apparently a senior Hamas official who was one of the founders of Hamas' "military" wing, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, was killed last week while traveling through Dubai and now, Hamas officials are blaming the guy's death on Israeli agents.

From the article:

Hamas claimed on Friday that Israeli agents assassinated one of the Palestinian militant group's veteran operatives in a killing allegedly carried out last week in Dubai, and vowed to retaliate.
The militant group identified its slain figure as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing that has been responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks and suicide bombings targeting Israelis since the 1980s. It said he was 50 years old.

"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 the statement on Hamas' Palestinian Information Center Web site. The group pledged to "retaliate for this Zionist crime at the appropriate time and place."

Now, there is one line from the story that I wanted to highlight:

It said al-Mabhouh, who was born in the Gaza Strip, was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and that he was still playing a "continuous role in supporting his brothers in the resistance inside the occupied homeland" at the time of his death.

Do I know that Israel's Mossad was involved in this killing? No. But I do know that Israel has a long memory regarding the killing and assassination of its soldiers. Do I think Israel did take this chump out? Yep. And G_d bless them for doing so. Will Hamas actually retaliate for this? No. Let's face the facts...Hamas has been neutered since the days of Operation Cast Lead. In fact, Hamas' tactical operations since Operation Cast Lead have been more focused on rounding up rogue terrorists in Gaza who intermittently have fired rockets into Israel...because Hamas fears the certain and deadly reprisals from Israel for such attacks.

And don't kid yourself. Hamas leaders and operatives who have been directly responsible for the deaths of Israeli soldiers or Israeli citizens KNOW that it could be one year....it could be five years....it could be 20 years....that they meet their moongood for their actions. They know for certain that Israel will never forget their actions and their execution isn't in question, it is a matter of when.

I would put forth that this is why Gilad Shalit is still not released. Every single Hamas official that was linked to the abduction of Shalit is a marked man and they know that as soon as Shilat is returned to Israel, whether dead or alive, their dance with certain death begins.

Hamas: Israel assassinated operative in Dubai


DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Hamas claimed on Friday that Israeli agents assassinated one of the Palestinian militant group's veteran operatives in a killing allegedly carried out last week in Dubai, and vowed to retaliate.
The militant group identified its slain figure as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing that has been responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks and suicide bombings targeting Israelis since the 1980s. It said he was 50 years old.

Hamas blamed Israel for the slaying but gave no details on how al-Mabhouh was killed and no information on alleged Israeli involvement in the man's death. Israel's government had no immediate comment.

Izzat Rashaq, a top member of Hamas' exiled leadership in Damascus, told The Associated Press that details have not been released to avoid compromising an ongoing investigation, and that Hamas' delayed announcement was linked to an attempt to "reach the Israeli agents who implemented this operation."

Al-Mabhouh lived in Syria and was passing through Dubai when he was killed late Jan. 19 or early Jan. 20, Rashaq said. Originally from the Gaza Strip, al-Mabhouh was married and had four children, he said.

"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 the statement on Hamas' Palestinian Information Center Web site. The group pledged to "retaliate for this Zionist crime at the appropriate time and place."

Al-Mabhouh was to be buried Friday at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus, the statement said.

It said al-Mabhouh, who was born in the Gaza Strip, was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and that he was still playing a "continuous role in supporting his brothers in the resistance inside the occupied homeland" at the time of his death.

In Dubai, officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Hamas rules Gaza but has leaders and operatives based in Damascus, Syria, and elsewhere. The group's members abroad have been targeted in the past. The leader of its Damascus-based politburo, Khaled Mashaal, survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Amman, Jordan, in 1997. Last month, two Hamas men were killed in a mysterious late-night blast in Beirut. Hamas said at the time that Israel was an obvious suspect but stopped short of openly accusing Israel of the killings.

Israel is suspected of being behind the assassination of a senior military commander from the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah in Damascus in 2008. The Mossad, Israel's intelligence arm abroad, never openly discusses its operations and Israel's government typically does not comment on incidents in which the Mossad's involvement is suspected.

Dubai has for years been known as a low-risk hideaway for disgraced politicians and deposed foreign leaders but that image was shattered last March, when Chechnya's Sulim Yamadayev—a former rebel in the republic's long conflict with Russia who switched sides but then fell out with the territory's pro-Moscow leader—was shot dead in broad daylight in a Dubai underground parking lot.

The Emirates backs Hamas rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but does not list the militant group as a terrorist organization. Emirati officials have several times met with Hamas representatives in the capital Abu Dhabi.