A senior commander in the Hamas military arm al-Qassam Brigades, Mazen Fuqaha was assassinated on Friday at the beach, by gunmen who shot him four times in the head, using guns with silencers. Needless to say, Hamas is pointing the finger at Israel and vowing revenge.
Fuqaha was a senior leader of the Hamas in Judea and Samaria which launched suicide bombings that killed hundreds during the second Intifada. In 2002 he was convicted of masterminding the suicide attack on a bus at the Miron junction where nine Israelis had been murdered. In 2011 he was released from Israeli prison in the Gilad Shalit deal (the Netanyahu gift that keeps on giving).
Born and raised in the village of Tubas in northern Samaria, Fuqaha continued to monitor from Gaza – where he was expelled by Israel after his release – Hamas terror cells in Judea and Samaria.
However, according to Ma’an, the Mossad targeted al-Zouari due to his work manufacturing drones for Hamas.
The al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that it was “clear and obvious that this crime was arranged by the Zionist enemy.” They warned that “this enemy will be the ones who suffer the consequences and take responsibility for this crime,” and that Israel would “regret the day” of the assassination.
The Hamas movement called the assassination “a cowardly attack by the occupation,” vowing that Israel would “pay for its crimes.”