Israel ‘assassinated’ Tunisian drone engineer for Hamas links

Members of Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, stand near a Gaza-made drone during a military parade marking the 27th anniversary of Hamas’ founding, in Gaza City December 14, 2014 [Ashraf Amra / ApaImages]

Israeli media reported yesterday that a Tunisian drone engineer belonged to Hamas, hinting that Israeli intelligence services were responsible for his killing and had assassinated him.

In a reported published by the Israeli news website Ynet News, Israeli journalists cited a Tunisian journalist as accusing the Mossad of being behind the engineer’s assassination. The engineer was known as Mohammed Al-Zawari.

The two Israeli journalists who wrote the Ynet News report said that the Tunisian journalist claimed the Mossad was behind the assassination of a “Hamas official”, noting that he travelled to Syria in 1991 and met with Hamas officials and started his relationship with the Palestinian organisation.

Meanwhile, during an appearance on an Israeli talk show, Israeli investigative journalist and author Ronen Bergman reported Israeli security sources as saying: “Tunisian accusations that Mossad is responsible for Al-Zawari’s assassination are not false.”

Bergman, who is a senior political and military analyst for Yedioth Ahronoth, a major Israeli publication, added: “Usually, Israel denies accusations against the Mossad in such cases, saying: no comment. However, what happened today is different.”

According to Arabi21, citing the talk show, Bergman also said that the assassins left Tunisia, noting that the people announced as having been arrested by the Tunisian authorities were “tourists who happened to be at the scene when the assassination took place.”

In the same show, Oren Hiller, a commentator on military affairs, claimed that Al-Zawari had been known for his relations with Hamas, noting Israeli intelligence information reiterated that he was in Hamas’ bases in Syria and Lebanon and he helped Hamas develop its drones.

Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, denied that Al-Zawari had anything to do with developing its drones, stressing that the drone was developed and made in Gaza by engineers from Gaza.

GAZA CITY, GAZA – DECEMBER 18: Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, military wing of Hamas movement, hold a commemoration ceremony for Hamas member Tunisian aircraft engineer Muhammed ez-Zevvari, who was assassinated in front of his house, in Gaza City, Gaza on December 18, 2016. ( Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency )

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