Gaza City: The neighbourhood of Jabaliya camp is adorned with Mahmoud Al Mabhouh's pictures and the green flags of Hamas. It is nothing unusual here. When a member of Ezz Al Deen Al Qassam Brigades or any other resistance movement is assassinated by Israel, this is the way residents pay their homage to the martyrs.
Al Mabhouh's family in Gaza received the news of his death on the phone early last week from his wife in Syria. Initially they were told that he died of a heart attack. So they comforted themselves thinking it was a natural death.
However, they later realised that they were wrong and that he had been killed. The family was then swamped with visitors, mostly from the media.
Video: Assassins of Mabhouh captured on camera
Gaza Prime Minister Esmail Haniya on Friday said: "Israel is our enemy and we can expect anything. It is not the first time Israelis have killed Palestinians outside the country. It's an open war between us and the Israelis and they changed the rules of the game."
Al Mabhouh's father Abdul Raouf said: "The last time I saw [Al] Mabhouh was in 2005, when I went to Syria to visit him."
"I talked to him a week ago and there was no reason he would die so suddenly like we were told. We don't know why he was in Dubai, but we asked the government in Gaza to look into his death," he said.
"He was a good son and I was always proud of him, He did a lot for his country and religion and it is painful for me to lose him, but still I'm proud of him."
Fayek Al Mabhouh, Mahmoud's brother, said: I hadn't see him since May 1989 when he found himself on the wanted list. He didn't tell us that he had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Many of our family members, including my mother and Mahmoud's wife, were arrested by the Israeli army after he escaped from Gaza.
"We are looking forward to the outcome of the investigations by the UAE, which will do its best to bring out the truth."
Al Mabhouh was known for the famous kidnapping of two Israelis in 1989 during the first intifada. After that he fled to Damascus. He had been living there ever since.
Meanwhile, Israeli security sources said Al Mabhouh played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to Gaza. He, however, refused to comment on accusations that Israel was behind his death.
Israel's government would not officially comment, but its media were unanimous in linking Al Mabhouh to the Gaza arms supply.
One Israeli security source said Al Mabhouh had been "key" to Hamas' efforts to smuggle rockets and other arms into Gaza, whose borders with Israel and Egypt are under blockaded.
Strategic asset
"He was a strategic asset for Hamas when it came to its armament by Iran," the source told a news agency.
A former Mossad officer, Ram Yigra, said he had no knowledge of the circumstances of Al Mabhouh's death but suggested the Hamas commander may have fallen foul of arms dealers.
"At the end of the day, Mr. [Al] Mabhouh was into arms smuggling, which means shady relationships," he told Israel's Army Radio.
"It's certainly reasonable to assume that the one who took him out was one of his various business partners, because such business does not happen without a lot of money being pocketed."
A brother of Al Mabhouh brushed off that theory.
"He had no problems. He had no fight. He wasn't involved in any gang. He wasn't involved in any crime," Fayek told the radio station from Gaza. "So who had an interest in killing him? Israel."
With additional inputs from agencies
Meeting: Results assured
Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim discussed yesterday with the Palestinian Consul General in Dubai, Hussain Abdul Khaliq, the ongoing investigation into the murder of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh recently in Dubai.
The two officials also discussed ways of cooperation between Dubai Police and local and international parties with regard to the murder, including contacts with security authorities in concerned countries.
Lt Gen Dahi assured the Palestinian official that Dubai Police would work day and night to track down the suspects, adding that they will not relent until the suspects are brought to books.
"We learn from the experiences that suspects at the end of the day get arrested however at large they might be," the police chief said.
— WAM
