Wednesday that one of its senior members was assassinated in Damascus, blaming the Zionist entity’s secret service for the attack.
The announcement, posted on the group's official website said it was unknown who killed Kamal Ranaja.
Hamas said it was launching “an investigation to discover who is behind the despicable crime.”
The statement added that Ranaja “was martyred in the service of his cause and his people," vowing that his blood would not be wasted.
For his part, A Hamas official in Lebanon blamed the Zionist entity’s Mossad for the death of Ranaja.
The leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that "a group of people entered the home of Ranaja (also known as Nizar Abu Mujhad), and killed him," Israeli website Ynet reported.
 |
| Mahmoud Mabhouh |
Shortly after the assassination was announced, the new pan-Arabic television station, Al-Mayadeen, reported that he used to serve as aide to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas member who was likely killed by Mossad in a hotel in Dubai in the year of 2010.
A delegation of senior Hamas politburo officials including Khaled Mashaal and Mousa Abu Marzook is set to arrive in Jordan to attend Ranaja's funeral.
The group was meant to visit Jordan over the weekend or early next week but its members decided to push up their visit in order to attend the funeral. They are slated to meet Jordanian officials and possibly also King Abdullah II.
According to Izzat a-Rashak, a member in the Hamas political bureau, anonymous persons killed Kamel Ranaja, in what was termed as a "criminal act."
The movement described the murder as “cowardly”, adding that it was holding its own investigations to determine who was involved in this “sinful crime”.
Several websites run by the opposition in Syria claimed that the regime of Bashar Assad is behind the assassination.
Hamas figure assassinated in Syria, Israel accused
Published Thursday, June 28, 2012
A senior Hamas member has been killed in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, a member of the group told AFP on Thursday, accusing Israel's spy agency of being behind the attack.
Israel's defense minister responded coyly to the suggestion, telling army radio: "I'm not sure that that's necessarily right."
Hamas said the member, Kamal Hussein Ghanaja, was killed on Wednesday.
"A group of people entered his home in Qudsaya ... where he was liquidated," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"According to our information, Mossad was behind the assassination," he added, referring to Israel's foreign intelligence agency.
The official said Ghanaja, also known as Nizar Abu Mujahed, was one of the deputies of Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a senior Hamas military commander found dead in a Dubai hotel room in 2010.
Investigators in the Gulf emirate have accused Mossad of that murder, who were caught on CCTV during the assassination.
In a statement in Gaza, Hamas said it had launched an investigation "to identify the party behind the deplorable crime."
Another Hamas source in Gaza said "there were marks of torture" on Ghanaja's body.
But in Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said it was not "necessarily true" that Mossad was behind Ghanaja's assassination.
Syria has long allowed Hamas to operate offices in Damascus, but in recent months, the Palestinian group has quietly moved most of its operations elsewhere as an uprising that is spiraling into civil war has rocked the country.
The situation in neighboring Syria has been a key concern for Israel, and topped the agenda of talks between Israeli officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin who visited the Jewish state earlier this week.
Barak on Thursday expressed hope that no new arms would be sent to Syria, adding that Putin "listened perfectly to what we said" on the issue, particularly on the delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
Israel is still technically at war with Syria, but the armistice line separating the neighbors has been largely quiet in recent years, leading some to suggest that the fall of President Bashar Assad could have a negative impact on the Jewish state.
However in recent months, after initially declining to make public comment, Israeli leaders have condemned Assad's crackdown, saying it is only a matter of time before he is ousted.
"The Assad family is losing control over Syria," Barak said on Thursday.
"Assad will fall, the forces of the opposition control significant parts of Syria. But the longer it takes, the more difficult it will be to stabilize the situation."
(AFP, Reuters, Ma'an, Al-Akhbar)
Israel's defense minister responded coyly to the suggestion, telling army radio: "I'm not sure that that's necessarily right."
Hamas said the member, Kamal Hussein Ghanaja, was killed on Wednesday.
"A group of people entered his home in Qudsaya ... where he was liquidated," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"According to our information, Mossad was behind the assassination," he added, referring to Israel's foreign intelligence agency.
The official said Ghanaja, also known as Nizar Abu Mujahed, was one of the deputies of Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a senior Hamas military commander found dead in a Dubai hotel room in 2010.
Investigators in the Gulf emirate have accused Mossad of that murder, who were caught on CCTV during the assassination.
In a statement in Gaza, Hamas said it had launched an investigation "to identify the party behind the deplorable crime."
Another Hamas source in Gaza said "there were marks of torture" on Ghanaja's body.
But in Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said it was not "necessarily true" that Mossad was behind Ghanaja's assassination.
Syria has long allowed Hamas to operate offices in Damascus, but in recent months, the Palestinian group has quietly moved most of its operations elsewhere as an uprising that is spiraling into civil war has rocked the country.
The situation in neighboring Syria has been a key concern for Israel, and topped the agenda of talks between Israeli officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin who visited the Jewish state earlier this week.
Barak on Thursday expressed hope that no new arms would be sent to Syria, adding that Putin "listened perfectly to what we said" on the issue, particularly on the delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
Israel is still technically at war with Syria, but the armistice line separating the neighbors has been largely quiet in recent years, leading some to suggest that the fall of President Bashar Assad could have a negative impact on the Jewish state.
However in recent months, after initially declining to make public comment, Israeli leaders have condemned Assad's crackdown, saying it is only a matter of time before he is ousted.
"The Assad family is losing control over Syria," Barak said on Thursday.
"Assad will fall, the forces of the opposition control significant parts of Syria. But the longer it takes, the more difficult it will be to stabilize the situation."
(AFP, Reuters, Ma'an, Al-Akhbar)
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment