BICOM

Hamas has claimed that Mossad agents carried out the assassination of Mohammed Zawahri, Hamas’s drone expert, in Tunisia in December 2016.

Mohammed Nazzal, who is leading Hamas’ investigation into the assassination, told a press conference in Beirut yesterday: “We’ve reached clear conclusions about who was behind the assassination.” He added that Zawahri had been under Mossad surveillance for four months prior to his killing, and that Mossad agents were aided by other intelligence agencies. He also said that the agents were carrying Bosnian passports.

Zawahri was shot three to seven times by unknown assailants in his car near his home. Following his death, sources in Hezbollah and Hamas’ military wing told the Hezbollah affiliated Lebanese daily al-Akhbar that Zawahri’s association with Hamas’ military wing began in the 1990s, after his departure from Tunisia, where he was reportedly being pursued by authorities at the time.

Al-Akhbar reported that Zawahri worked in the Iz al-Din al-Qassam aviation unit and responsible for the development and production of small drones and training members of the Hamas military wing. He was also thought to have done similar work for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and to have lived in Damascus until 2013.

Israel’s State Comptroller, Yosef Shapira, warned this week that the Israeli military has yet to devise a comprehensive solution to the security threat posed by drones. The report says that while drones have become increasingly accessible and prevalent in recent years, Israeli authorities and security agencies don’t have an effective mechanism in place to prevent the harm that can be caused by them. Shapira said that “the risk that the enemy will use drones is growing and remains without an adequate response”.