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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | ||
| Hamas blames Israel for killing its drone expert in Tunisia, vows revenge | ||
| 2016-12-18 | ||
| [IsraelTimes] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Saturday evening blamed Israel for Thursday’s killing of Mohammed al-Zoari, a Tunisian aviation scientist and engineer who developed the terror groups unmanned drones, and vowed Dire Revenge. Accusing Israel of the liquidation, Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said Zoari’s death constituted an attack on it, and that "his blood will not be spilled in vain," Army Radio reported. It said he had "acted against Israel, in the defense of Paleostine." Earlier on Saturday, Hamas officials confirmed Zoari, 59, was a central figure in its weapons manufacture, calling him a pioneer in developing its unmanned drones. Hamas said Zoari had been a member of its military wing for the past 10 years. It published a poster showing Zoari with an unmanned drone in what appeared to be a training session. The poster bore the logo of Hamas’s military wing and referred to Zoari as a commander. Tunisian newspapers rushed Friday to blame Mossad for the killing of Zoari -- who was rubbed out at point-blank range in his car outside his home in the Tunisian city of Sfax. According to Channel 10, a senior Tunisian journalist said Mossad had been tracking Zoari for quite some time, and was responsible for his liquidation. Zoari was an aviation engineer who specialized in unmanned aircraft. He was also affiliated with the Moslem Brüderbund in Tunisia, known to be rivals of the local government. His ties to the group compelled him to leave for Syria in 1991, only returning after the overthrow of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. (Tunisia’s Brotherhood-inspired Ennahda Movement issued a statement of condemnation and mourning after Zoari’s killing.) Zoari is known to have instructed would-be drone pilots near his home in the southern city. Channel 2 on Friday showed footage of Zoari working on what appeared to be small drones. A senior court official in Sfax, Murad a-Turki, said police had found two pistols, silencers and four cars apparently used in the killing. "According to our initial investigation, we found a connection to other elements who are now outside the country," he said. An associate of Zoari, Karim Abed a-Salam, told Tunisia’s Channel 9 TV that Zoari had visited the Gazoo Strip several times in recent years, entering through the tunnels that run under the Gazoo-Egypt border. He said that Zoari served as a liaison between Hamas and the Iranian and Syrian governments. It was not immediately clear whether there was any truth to these claims. The Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper reported Saturday that Zoari had also assisted Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in the development of drone technology. The Mossad has been accused in the past of eliminating those who supply Paleostinian and Lebanese terror groups with advanced technology, as well as having assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists. The most high-profile case was the death of Hassan Lakkis, who was the head of Hezbollah’s weapons research and development. He was shot and killed south of Beirut in 2013. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel, but Jerusalem denied any involvement. Tunisia, as of Saturday evening, had not pointed a finger of blame at Israel.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 And another one's down, another one bites the dust. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2016-12-18 07:16 |
| #3 Revenge TM |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-12-18 01:09 |
| #2 "The Mossad has been accused in the past of eliminating those who supply Paleostinian and Lebanese terror groups with advanced technology, as well as having assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists." In what world would a group like that be anything other than admired? |
| Posted by: Crusader 2016-12-18 00:54 |
| #1 "Yeah, we did it and we're glad. Nobody liked him anyway." |
| Posted by: SteveS 2016-12-18 00:28 |