Hamas blames Israel for killing its aviation engineer

Published 1:30 am Saturday, December 17, 2016

Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Islamic Hamas rulers said an aviation engineer who was shot dead in Tunisia this week was one of its members.

In a statement Saturday, Hamas says Mohammed Alzoari had been a member of its military wing for the past 10 years. Alzoari was found shot dead in his car in the city of Sfax on Thursday.

Hamas accused Israel of killing the engineer through its network of spies. It published a poster showing Alzoari with an unmanned drone in what appeared to be a training session. The poster bore the logo of Hamas’ armed wing and referred to Alzoari as a commander.

Hamas claims it has surveillance and attack drones. It said it considers Alzoari’s killing a targeted assassination and vowed to retaliate.

The Israeli military had no comment.