The Mossad has been busy this weekend, taking Israel's war against Hamas to the streets of Syria's capital.
Israeli security sources confirmed on Sunday that Israel was involved in a car bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed a senior Hamas official."Some people lead dangerous lives," an Israeli official said in response to the assassination of Izz El-Deen Al-Sheikh Khalil.
Minutes after the assassination, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza immediately laid the blame at Israel's door, saying the assassination was "a cowardly crime by the Zionist Mossad."
The blast happened around 11 A.M. in the al-Zahraa area of Damascus. A member of the Hamas political bureau, Mohammed Nazzal, told the Associated Press in Cairo that a bomb had been planted in Khalil's car and it exploded as he tried to start it.
Israel Radio reported that the Khalil, 42, helped train Hamas' chief bomb-maker Yehiya Ayash, who Israel assassinated in January 1996 when it booby-trapped his cellular phone. Khalil is believed to be in charge of Hamas's military wing outside the Palestinian territories.
Israel expelled Khalil from Gaza to Syria in 1992 along with a large group of Palestinians.
Oddly, this assassination takes place against a backdrop of public reports that Syria, and perhaps other countries, have been hedging their bets against playing host to certain anti-Israel terror groups.
The assassination comes just days after the London-based Al-Hayat paper reported that the intelligence service of an Arab state has recently passed Israel extremely valuable information on the Hamas infrastructure in foreign countries.According to the report, Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, also received detailed information on two Hamas leaders, Khaled Mashal and Mussa Abu Marzuk. The information reportedly included details of their places of residence, their pastimes and the type of food they eat.
The paper said that the information was handed over at the request of Mossad chief Meir Dagan following the August suicide attacks in which 16 people were killed in Be'er Sheva and which were claimed by Hamas.
In addition, according to recent reports from Damascus, the Syrian government has ordered the offices of Palestinian organizations operating in its territory closed.
Khaled al-Fahum, former chairman of the Palestinian National Council said the Syrian authorities have closed the offices of various Palestinian organizations, including Hamas, in recent days and in some cases have even cut their phone lines.
In a laconic statement, Syrian spokesmen told the daily Al-Hayat, "the Palestinian leaders are outside Syrian territory."
Syria's lack of support for Hamas is very likely tied to its alliance with Iran and Iran's proxy army, Hezbollah. Together, they are apparently actively engaged in a hostile takeover of the various Palestinian terrorist and paramilitary groups in the Occupied Territories. Their twin goals: war against Israel and a stronger mutual front against American influence in the region.
Posted by Alan at September 26, 2004 09:32 AM