Mossad chief vows to ‘settle score’ with Hamas
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Civil defence officials inspect a vehicle that was damaged near the building in Beirut, hit by a drone strike that killed Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri..
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
JERUSALEM - Israel’s spy chief David Barnea on Jan 3 vowed to make Hamas pay for its attacks on Israel, after a drone strike attributed to Israel killed the group’s deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, in Lebanon.
The Mossad spy agency “is committed to settling the score with the murderers who descended upon the Gaza envelope on Oct 7” and with Hamas’ leadership, Mr Barnea said.
“It will take time, just like after the Munich massacre, but we will lay our hands on them wherever they will be.”
Mr Barnea spoke at the funeral of former Mossad chief Zvi Zamir, who oversaw Israel’s retaliation against Palestinian militant groups in the aftermath of the 1972 murder of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich.
His remarks came a day after Arouri, the deputy political chief of Hamas, was killed in a drone strike in a southern Beirut suburb.
Senior Lebanese officials accused Israel of carrying out the strike.
Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Israel has waged a nearly three-month-long war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip the Oct 7 attack on southern Israel
“Every Arab mother ought know that if her son participated, directly or indirectly, in the slaughter of Oct 7, his blood shall be upon his own head,” Mr Barnea said.
Israel’s retaliation has claimed the lives of at least 22,313 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
That figure does not specify the number of Hamas militants killed in the fighting, but Israel contends that at least 8,000 Hamas fighters are among the dead. AFP
