Palestinian Authority calls for prosecution of Abu Jihad's killers

The Palestinian Authority has called for the killers of Khalil Al-Wazir to be brought to justice. Known by his nom de guerre Abu Jihad, Al-Wazir was assassinated 25 years ago in Tunisia by Israeli security forces.

The Ministry of Information in Ramallah pointed out that political crime is not subject to any statute of limitations in international law. The prosecution of his killers would be the best way to honour his memory, said a spokesman. Abu Jihad’s murder was, claims the ministry, clear evidence of Israel’s use of terrorism to pursue its political goals, even though resistance to its occupation of Palestinian is deemed to be legitimate by international laws and conventions.

Israel considered the assassination of Abu Jihad to be one of the events that changed the face of the region but only recently acknowledged its responsibility for the killing. Last November, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed the name of the Israeli soldier who shot the Palestinian leader in an Israeli commando operation in the centre of Tunis. The newspaper claimed that Caesarea, a division of the Mossad intelligence agency, carried out the operation together with the IDF General Staff reconnaissance unit known as Sayeret Matkal.

Abu Jihad was known to have a brilliant military mind, said Amal Hamad, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah. “He terrorised the Israeli enemy and was behind every heroic commando operation carried out by Fatah inside the occupied territories, going deep into Israel.”

Holding several political positions within the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Abu Jihad was also a member of the Supreme Military Council of the revolutionary leadership.