Brother of killed Hamas man says electrocuted to death
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's brother tells Ynet of series of hit attempts his brother survived including in Gaza and Damascus; claims died by electric shock
Ali Waked and AFP
Latest Update: 01.29.10, 12:22 /
Israel News
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who according to
Hamas was assassinated by
Israel in Dubai was killed by electric shock after an electrical appliance was held to his head and had already escaped several past attempts to kill him, according to his brother.
"The first results of a joint investigation by Hamas and the (United Arab) Emirates show he was killed by an electrical appliance that was held to his head," Faiq al-Mabhouh told AFP by telephone.
Speaking to Ynet from Gaza, he further noted, "The assassination attempt was one of many. My brother escaped an attepted hit in Gaza, and six months ago he was poisoned and was unconscious for 36 hours, but he didn't like the media and no one in the organization spoke of it.
"He also survived when Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil was assasinated in Damascus in 2004 after security cameras located a device attached to his car."
Al-Mabhouh's family has no details on the circumstances of Mahmoud's death. Meanwhile, Hamas are blaming the Mossad. "Hamas' overseas branch officially informed the family 10 days ago that he was dead, but only tonight after all of the forensic examinations, his body was turned over to Hamas and and we were notified at two in the morning," Faiq said.
The family set up a mourners' tent and Faiq said that all of Hamas' leadership arrived.
"The family has no doubt it was a hit," he said.
Al-Mabhouh renewed contact with his family in Gaza in the last years, however his brother said Mahmoud never spoke about his activities. "All we knew was that he supports the organization's resistance in the Strip and in Palestine."
For months the Israel Defense Forces chased after al-Mabhouh until he left the Gaza Strip via Egypt and finally settled in Damascus, where he served as a senior official in Hamas' military wing.
"You know him better than us. I can say he was one of the first in Hamas to start an armed battle against the occupation. He was one of the first founders of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades when he started operating with a small squad, a member of which is still in Israeli prison, and has since been wanted,"
Faiq said.
He is referring to Muhammad Sharatha, commander of Hamas' 101 squad, which kidnapped and murdered soldiers Avi Sasportas and Ilan Sa'adon in 1989. Recently his name was mentioned in relation to the prisoner swap deal to secure the release of
Gilad Shalit, however it appears Israel is against his release.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841395,00.html