The Arab world is unequivocally blaming Israel for the killing of Hamas member ‘Izz A-Din ‘Subhi A-Sheikh Khalil in Damascus on Sunday.
Khalil, 42, was an important member of Hamas in charge of the da’wa, or propaganda aspect of Hamas. Nevertheless he was not considered a senior member of the organization.
Hamas blamed Israel for the attack and vowed to take revenge.
The organization’s military wing, ‘Izz A-Din Al-Qassam, originally posted a message on its website vowing to strike outside of Israel but the message was soon removed and Hamas officials said they would focus on operating inside pre- and post-1967 Israel.
Israel has remained silent on the subject and officials are neither denying nor confirming the allegations, but Israeli officials have said on condition of anonymity that Israel did have a role in the attack.
Chairman of the Knesset’s (Israel’s parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Yuval Steinitz said, without denying or confirming Israel’s involvement, “Those who kill us should know they have no immunity, not in Israel, not in the territories, not in countries that give them shelter, including Syria,” according to Haaretz.
Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said the focus of discussion should not be who killed Khalil but rather Syria’s involvement in terror. He told Israel Radio that Syria is responsible for directing terrorism against Israel and is not immune from Israel’s operations to prevent terrorism.
Member of the political bureau of Hamas Muhammad Nazzal told Al-Jazeera television that this assassination will only make the resistance more persistent in continuing its course.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri told the pan-Arab channel Al-‘Arabiyya that this act constitutes a dangerous escalation of Israel’s operations since it is expanding its operations from the Palestinian territories to the entire Arab world.
Israeli interests abroad have beefed up security measures for fear of retaliation against Israeli and Jewish targets outside of Israel.