Hamas said to decide to target Israelis abroad in bid to avenge Haniyeh killing

Terror group made strategic decision weeks ago, given limited capacity to attack from Gaza; Palestinian reports identify failed Tel Aviv suicide bomber as Hamas man from Nablus

Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, after a terrorist attack there, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, after a terrorist attack there, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

The Hamas terror group has taken a strategic decision to carry out attacks against Israelis abroad in a bid to avenge the recent killing of group leader Ismail Haniyeh, Channel 12 reported Thursday, citing Palestinian sources.

The report said the shift in tactics by Hamas was made just two days after the leader was killed in Tehran last month. The killing was blamed on Israel, which has not taken responsibility.

In part, the shift to tactics, previously embodied by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, comes due to the fact that the group’s ability to launch attacks on Israel from Gaza has been significantly degraded over ten months of war in the enclave.

It was not clear whether the assassination campaign was meant to target Israeli civilians, such as tourists, or whether it was targeted at officials, the news network said.

Hamas started the ongoing war with its attack on Israel on October 7 last year, when thousands of terrorists burst into the country, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

For more than three weeks, the terror group, as well as its sponsor Iran, have been vowing to retaliate against Israel for the assassination in Tehran of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a blast for which Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility.

Hamas also claimed responsibility for a failed suicide bombing attack last Sunday, after a bomb in a man’s backpack detonated as he walked down Lehi Road in south Tel Aviv, killing him instantly and moderately wounding a passerby.

Unconfirmed Palestinian reports claimed Thursday that the suicide bomber who was killed while attempting to carry out an attack in Tel Aviv earlier this week was Jaafar Mona, from the West Bank city of Nablus.

The reports said that Israeli authorities notified Mona’s family recently. There was no official confirmation.

Meanwhile, Channel 12 reported that Mona was a longtime Hamas activist. It said that in the wake of the bombing, his brother had fled to Turkey. The report said it could not divulge further details, citing Israel’s military censor.

The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for the intended attack, although did not offer any proof.

Israeli security officials have previously noted the possibility that Hamas, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, or Iran itself could strike Israeli or Jewish targets abroad as a means of retaliating against the Jewish state.

Two members of a suspected Hamas terror cell are led from a helicopter to a car by police officers at a helipad in Karlsruhe, Germany, December 15, 2023. (Uli Deck/dpa via AP)

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for Israel’s killing of its senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut late last month, which came just hours before the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.

The Shi’ite group has a history of such attacks, and is believed to be responsible for the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994, which killed 85 people.

Hamas, on the other hand, has never launched a successful attack abroad since its founding in 1987, though several thwarted terror plots abroad are suspected to have been connected to the group.

In December, members of an alleged Hamas network with cells in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands were arrested on suspicion of plotting to attack Jewish targets in Europe.

The network had been planning to attack Israel’s embassy in Sweden, buy UAVs and utilize criminal organizations in Europe to support attacks, Israeli security agencies said.

“The Hamas terrorist organization has been working relentlessly and exhaustively to expand its lethal operations to Europe, and thereby constitutes a threat to the domestic security of these countries,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time.

Earlier this month, the National Security Council warned Israelis against travel to some 40 countries that have been designated at moderate or high threat level.

“It is possible that [Iran and its proxies] will retaliate against Israeli/Jewish targets abroad, such as embassies, synagogues, Jewish community centers, etc,” the council cautioned at the time.

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.

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