His body was found the following day in his hotel room in Deira. Initially, Dubai authorities believed al-Mabhouh had died of natural causes. "Assassinating somebody like that is not that difficult. [39] What he did during the next three to four hours remains unclear. [53], Major General Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina as the deputy commander of Dubai's police gave details of the death of al-Mabhouh after forensic tests. A Hamas commander who was killed in a Dubai hotel room was drugged then suffocated, police say. The Dubai police is in touch with the Interpol and says the evidence available will help speedy arrest. Greylock, which has offices in the U.S. and Herzliya, Israel, was established by Moshe Mor, a former military intelligence captain in the Israeli army. They do not stand out or draw attention to themselves. [34] The identities used by 11 of the suspects have been made public. This combination image made from undated photos released by Dubai authorities shows 11suspects wanted in connection with the killing of a Hamas commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in his Dubai hotel room last month. We want anyone who is dealing with this case to deal with it as a security case, and not to pay attention to any other consideration. [120], He also announced Canada had arrested a suspect who "was among the preparatory group which arrived in the country and left it before the crime was committed." 912 at 10:05 on 19 January 2010 was tracked by an agent on the ground in Damascus. Tamim said the suspects arrived in Dubai at different times, checked into different hotels and tailed al-Mabhouh from the moment of his arrival in Dubai to when he entered his hotel room. He said that he did not "know how this happened or who chose my name or why". In 1997, two Mossad agents traveled with Canadian passports of dual citizenship Israelis to Amman in a botched attempt on the life of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. [citation needed] Al-Mabhouh, later, left the hotel and while several of the suspects kept watch, it is thought that (a) suspect(s) tried to gain entry to his room. [91] According to former katsa Victor Ostrovsky, a Canadian citizen, the Mossad formerly asked permission to use the passports of Israelis with dual nationality, but "I believe at some point, they stopped asking. Israeli intelligence service Mossad has widely been accused of carrying out the assassination. There are even reports of a rush to buy the geeky glasses worn by some of the suspected hit men.On Sunday senior cabinet minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer said he didn't know who carried out the killing, but that what was important was the result. [175] On 12 February, senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal rejected reports that Hamas blamed Arab states for al-Mabhouh's death, and said the Israeli Mossad was solely responsible. In 2020, Iran's intelligence service detained . We are working with the authorities, He said the brigades will respond (against Israel), Al Mabhouh was imprisoned several times by Israeli forces. [111] The chief of Dubai Police Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said that there are 648 hours of video films in which the 27 suspected persons are appearing[112] and announced that the police has found the DNA of four suspected agents. One went straight to Dubai, while the other joined him after first going to Ramallah, where he was sentenced to death by a Palestinian Authority court, a punishment generally handed down to Israeli collaborators. Mahmoud al Mabhouh holds a picture of his son, a senior Hamas commander killed in Dubai, at his family home in Gaza yesterday. [169] Top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar speculated that same day that it was possible that members of the entourage of Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau, who were in the United Arab Emirates at the time for a renewable energy conference, were involved in his killing. The Dubai police found that 12 of the suspects used British passports, along with six Irish, four French, one German, and three Australian passports. Dubai police on Monday named 11 suspects in the case -- 10 men and a woman -- and released their pictures. Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN)-- Another person has been added to the list of suspects in the January killing of a Hamas leader in a Dubai hotel, bringing the number of identified suspects to . On Sunday Israeli cabinet minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer appeared to issue a threat against other Hamas leaders while talking on Israel Radio. However, if the evidence presented by Dubai police is believed, Mabhouh's fate was sealed the moment he touched down on UAE territory. The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh (Arabic: , Mamd al-Mab; 14 February 1961 19 January 2010) took place on 19 January 2010, in a hotel room in Dubai. 1 March 2010. [43] According to Reuters news agency, traces of poison were found in al Mabhouh's autopsy. New evidence reportedly points to Mossad's role in Dubai murder His body was found the following day, A police official told Khaleej Times the 50-year old, The Media Office announcement expressed confidence that the suspects would be tracked down and brought to justice. Credit card payments and phone calls made by suspects in the murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai appear to link Israel's famed spy agency Mossad to the killing, an Arabic language . Dubai airport officials carried out routine retinal scans on 11 of the suspects sought in the assassination when they entered the country and Dubai police said they would publish the scans through Interpol. The case has caused a furor in Israel, however, as up to seven people have the same names as suspects in the case. Payoneer's CEO Hasn't Vanished, Just 'on a Business Trip in Israel', "Dubai police: We have '100 percent' DNA proof of one assassin", 648 hours of video films with the 27 suspected persons, "Says police has DNA of four Mossad agents", "PA says won't reveal identity of Dubai assassin suspects", "Al Mabhouh suspects' credit cards were in fake names", "Al Mabhouh was easy target for assassins, says Dubai Police chief", "Iran: Dubai hit is an act of state terrorism by Israel", Arrest of Suspected Mossad Agent Strains German-Israeli Relations, Alleged Mossad spy appears in Polish court, German judge sets 'Uri Brodsky' free on bail, Suspected Mossad agent lands in Israel after released in Germany, Chip Cummins, Dubai Police Report Arrest in Hamas Murder Case, Wall Street Journal, 11 October 2010, Dubai police: Suspect in Hamas assassination arrested abroad, "United Arab Emirates Demand Passport Probe in Hamas Murder", "Killers of Hamas leader used diplomatic passports: Dubai Police", "Dubai assassins stole identities of six UK citizens", "Israeli immigration officials copied British passports used by hit squad, ministers told", "Mossad spy expelled over passport cloning row", "David Miliband: Israeli cloning of British passports was 'intolerable', "Britain expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai passport row", "Israel behind passport forgery in Dubai killing", "Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories travel advice", "French PM condemns Dubai assassination of Hamas man", Comment Paris a souponn la NSA d'avoir pirat l'Elyse (Le Monde, 25 October 2013), "Al Mabhouh was easy target for killers, says Dubai Police chief", "Activities of the German federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe", Australian passports in Hamas hit duplicated or altered, Stephen Smith says, "Australia expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai killing", "Hezbollah claims Israel changed rhetoric", "Mossad Under Suspicion: EU Demands Israeli Cooperation over Dubai Killing", "Israel says no proof it carried out Hamas Dubai killing", "Livni: Int'l community must back Dubai hit", "Locals accept Dubai assassination was Mossad operation", "My life as a very secret agent for Mossad", "Israel has nothing to worry about over Dubai killing", http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7073250.ece, "UAE considered keeping Mabhouh hit under wraps, WikiLeaks cables reveal", "U.S. declined to cooperate in Dubai probe of Mabhouh killing, WikiLeaks shows", Abu Marzouk: Mossad behind Hamas official's assassination, "Report: Dubai has lead in assassination of top Hamas man", "Dubai narrows down seven suspects in murder of Hamas official", "Dubai police: Seven Europeans linked to assassination of senior Hamas militant", "Landau denies links to Hamas terrorist's death", Hamas rep in Lebanon suggests PA helped assassinate Mabhouh, "Hamas: Dubai assassins were likely Arabs, not Israelis", http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=168546, "The Fatah showdown: Mahmoud Abbas vs. Mohammad Dahlan", "Hamas: Palestinians linked to Dubai hit employed by Fatah strongman Dahlan", "EU condemns passport use in Dubai killing", Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assassination_of_Mahmoud_Al-Mabhouh&oldid=1166284041, Assassinations in the United Arab Emirates, State of PalestineUnited Arab Emirates relations, Articles with dead external links from May 2016, Articles with dead external links from June 2021, Articles with dead external links from March 2016, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from February 2019, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from February 2019, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Articles needing cleanup from February 2019, Cleanup tagged articles with a reason field from February 2019, Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from February 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2019, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from February 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, United Arab Emirates articles missing geocoordinate data, Articles missing coordinates without coordinates on Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, 33 people, using forged and fraudulently obtained passports. United Kingdom: Six passports with the names Paul John Keely, Stephan Daniel Hodes, Melvyn Adam Mildiner, Jonathan Louis Graham, James Leonard Clarke, and Michael Lawrence Barney. The case as presented by Dubai authorities is one of clockwork espionage and detailed planning that included suspects riding the same elevator as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh before he was slain in an ambush-style attack in a luxury hotel room that took no more than 10 minutes. [18], However, later in March, Dubai police chief said, "I am now completely sure that it was Mossad", and went on to say "I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad" for the assassination. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Dubai assassination: Briton named in hit squad Israel has a stated policy on security matters of neither confirming or denying involvement, and government officials in Israel denied comment on the "assassination" statement. Al Mabhouh was imprisoned several times by Israeli forces. Deputy Police Chief Khamis al Mazeira revealed the results of forensic tests on al Mabhouh's body, which was found to contain high levels of a muscle relaxant drug called Succinylcholine. The myth that Dubai is the eye of the storm, and no one will touch it because everyone has an interest, is being blown apart, said Christopher Davidson, the author of two books on the United Arab Emirates, to which Dubai belongs. [115], The two men are reported to be related to one another and to have lived in Gaza until Hamas took over full control of the Strip in 2006. It is not clear how his assassins administered the drug, but it would have acted fast, making him incapable of resisting his killers as they began to suffocate him with his own pillow. Dubai police chief: Mossad should be 'ashamed' over Hamas killing Despite the quick skill exhibited by the murderers, they left behind evidence that will help in tracking them down at earliest, official news agency Wam quoted a security source as saying. The second suspect is wanted by Hamas. Attorney General Essam al-Hemaydan said Tuesday that international arrest warrants have been issued. According to media reports, Nasser was in Dubai in the days before al-Mabhouh's killing and was intimately familiar with his schedule and whereabouts. Their movement across the city was captured on CCTV footage, much of it released by the Dubai authorities, along with hotel records and flight data they said supports their allegations. We still want these efforts to continue. But the group has not given clear reasons for his presence in Dubai. The official, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 50, lived in Syria and was a founder of Hamass military wing, which has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks against Israel since the 1980s, Hamas officials said. The suspects are believed to have left the country before the crime was reported. "[35], According to a 2018 article by Le Monde citing senior French intelligence officials, the Mossad ran the operation to kill Mabhouh out of Paris. Five others, including the woman, were used as spotters and in other planning roles, police said. "I am simply in complete shock," one of them, Stephen Daniel Hodes, told CNN. JERUSALEM, July 25 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants who opened fire on them from a car near the occupied West Bank city of . The Mossad allegedly set up a makeshift command and control center in a hotel in the Bercy neighborhood of Paris equipped with computers and secure phones. Dressed in tennis gear and carrying racquets and balls, the guests who wandered through the lobby of Dubai's al-Bustan Rotana hotel on Jan 19 . Days after his body was found on Jan. 20, Israeli officials also pointedly accused al-Mabhouh of helping smuggle rockets into the Gaza Strip, the coastal territory ruled by Hamas. The two detained Palestinians were Hamas operatives, said West Bank police spokesman Adnan Damiri, citing sources familiar with the investigation. Surveillance footage shows the female suspect apparently wearing a wig and at times a big hat and sunglasses to blend in as a tourist. [113], Two Palestinians, Ahmad Hasnin, an intelligence operative of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA), and Anwar Shekhaiber, an employee of the PA in Ramallah, were arrested in Jordan and handed over to Dubai as suspected accomplices to the assassination, suspected of giving logistical assistance such as providing car rentals and hotel bookings. Dubai Chief of Police Dahi Khalfan Tamim is even demanding the arrest of senior Israeli officials. Rishq said Al Mabhouh was an important member of Izz Deen Al Qassam brigades, Rishq described Al Mabhouh as an Israeli target since he engineered the capture of Israeli soldiers later, I cannot reveal the circumstances (of the killing). Mystery Grows Over Killing of a Hamas Official - The New York Times Hamas leader was drugged then suffocated, Dubai police say 2010 murder in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, For pictures and passport information, see, Festnahme im Fall Mabhuh, (engl. [36] Dubai's police chief, Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, stated that al-Mabhouh was transiting in Dubai before traveling to China. [12] The Hamas leadership also holds Israel responsible, and has vowed revenge. A senior member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas has been found murdered in a Dubai hotel. [177] Dahlan and Fatah denied the charges. Hamas Assassination Draws Wide Praise In Israel : NPR For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. A 2010 Hebrew language novel titled Dubai and written by Yomi 'Eyni is set around the assassination. [20] This was denied by Hamas which blamed Fatah for helping the Mossad hit team. As soon as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh walked out into the foyer of Dubai International Airport at 3.17pm, the foreign assassins had latched on to his tail. CNN's Caroline Faraj, Kevin Flower, Alanne Orjoux, Ashley Hayes and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report. Hamas has called al-Mabhouh's death an "assassination," and mourners at his funeral in Damascus, Syria, speculated that the Israeli intelligence unit, Mossad, was behind it. Hamas leader drugged, suffocated - ABC News One of the Palestinians -- a man believed to have met, at the airport, the alleged mastermind, a man from France who is seen on closed-circuit television handing him an envelope -- was arrested in Jordan, and led authorities to a second Palestinian. Police have said the 11 were holding European passports -- one from France, three from Ireland, six from Britain and one from Germany. [10][11], He said that Dubai would ask for an arrest warrant to be issued for Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, if it is confirmed that the Mossad is involved and responsible for the assassination. that four suspects entered the victim's hotel room and waited for him to return. [121] The following day, however, the Canadian embassy in the UAE denied this but said they were liaising with authorities back in Canada to verify the status of the arrest. An international arrest warrant was issued Tuesday. [178], EU foreign ministers "strongly condemned" the use of forged European passports in the killing. He had previously admitted kidnapping and killing two Israeli soldiers in the 1980s. The information is alleged by the Dubai police to have been communicated to a third party, who then telephoned from a different hotel to book room 237. Another Palestinian source in Damascus said, Being in Syria, Mabhouh was not directly involved in Hamas military operations. "[132][133][134], The day following al-Mabhouh's death, Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that he died of terminal cancer in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates. The suspects, seen on security videotapes, fall short of the dashing and debonair assassins seen on film. [24] Israel has refused to comment on the accusations that its security forces were behind the assassination. [58][59] According to journalist Uzi Mahnaimi, the decision to kill al-Mabhouh was authorized by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after being suggested by Meir Dagan, the head of the Mossad, at a meeting in early January 2010. A 2013 spy action comedy film titled Kidon also revolves around the assassination. [123] A European Arrest Warrant from Germany specified that Brodsky, also known as Alexander Verin (or Varin), was "suspected of being involved in illegally obtaining a [German] passport" for another man known as Michael Bodenheimer, who is alleged to have taken part in Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's murder. While another suspect distracted the tourist, it is claimed[by whom?] ", The Israeli government or Israeli security services isn't necessarily responsible, he said. The Dubai Job | GQ ", "From the moment I heard about it I was very worried. [172][173], On 2 February, Hamas' representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan said that Palestinian Authority security forces might have been involved in the death, stating that, "The Palestinian Authority security forces are pursuing [our] fighters and they have killed dozens of them since 1994. When Mabhouh arrived in Dubai 15 hours later, police believe his assassins, who were using forged European identities, tracked him to room 230 of the luxury Al-Bustan Rotana hotel, in the heart of the city, killed him, and then departed the country. Dubai police appealed for an international manhunt Tuesday after releasing names and photos of an alleged 11-member European hit squad accused of stalking and killing a Hamas commander last month in a plot that mixed cold precision with spy caper disguises such as fake beards and wigs.