Hamas Threatens Israeli Targets Abroad; Charges Jerusalem Responsible for Assassination

Hamas officials are charging that Israel sent assassins to Dubai as part of Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau’s delegation to an environmental conference last week, when Landau became the first Israeli minister to visit the Gulf state. It was during that period of time that terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was responsible for kidnapping and murdering two Israeli soldiers in 1989, was himself killed. Although officials in Dubai have not completed the investigation, they have said that an Israeli hit is a possibility. Hamas jumped on that speculation, accusing Israel of taking the fight from the local battlefield deep into the Islamic world. On Sunday, The Times reported that the assassins entered Al-Mabhouh’s luxury hotel room and injected him with a drug that induced a heart attack. The body was discovered by hotel personnel and the initial cause of death was a heart attack. The incident became death-by-assassination only days later when blood samples sent to the lab showed the presence of the drug. and The Times also reported that the hit squad photographed documents the terrorist had in his possession before leaving his hotel room. Spokesman Mahmoud A-Zahar said on Saturday that the Gaza-based terrorist group will be sending a team to Dubai to participate in the investigation, and that its operatives will now aim for Israeli targets worldwide.