Israel plans to "hunt" Hamas leaders around the world as soon as it ends its war with militants in the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reports, UNN reports.
Details
The publication, citing Israeli officials, reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the security services to develop a plan to assassinate senior leaders of the of the group outside Gaza, who live in Turkey, Qatar and other countries.
It is noted that some have called on Israel to immediately assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and others after the October 7 attack. However, if this had been done on the territory of Qatar or Turkey, it could hinder or disrupt diplomatic efforts to free the hostages, and the idea was shelved.
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According to the WSJ, Netanyahu hinted at Israeli plans to assassinate Hamas leaders abroad in a speech in late November, sparking the discontent of some who would have preferred to keep the upcoming campaign secret. secret.
The Wall Street Journal also reports that Israel is exploring the possibility of of forcibly expelling thousands of low-level Hamas fighters from Gaza to shorten the the duration of the war.
Background
In the 1970s, Israel launched a multi-year campaign to to kill Palestinian terrorists involved in the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972. Olympics in 1972. For 20 years, Israeli assassins have been searching for those were connected to the Munich terrorist attack. They killed Palestinians in France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Lebanon. In France, they used a remote-controlled bomb remote-controlled bomb hidden in a phone, and on the streets of Rome they used guns with with silencers.
But the operation, dubbed "The Wrath of God," also led to one of Israel's most infamous covert failures in 1973, when a group of of Israeli operatives killed a Moroccan waiter in Norway whom they mistakenly identified as a Palestinian militant involved in the the Munich terrorist attack. Six of the 15 Israeli operatives were arrested, and five were convicted of participating in the murder.
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