Palestinians hand over 'intruders' accused of role in Mustafa's assassination
Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s Tyre region have handed over to Lebanese authorities a group of individuals suspected of aiding Israel in its drone assassination of senior Hamas official Hadi Mustafa near Tyre on March 13.
“Following close and constant monitoring and a preliminary investigation, it turned out that a group of intruders in our camp was involved in the assassination operation,” the factions said in a statement.
“They have been handed over to the relevant security authorities in the Lebanese state,” the factions added.
Hamas has identified Mustafa as a senior member of its armed wing in Lebanon, saying he lived at the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh near Tyre.
The Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it carried out a strike in the Tyre area. It described Mustafa as a "significant operative" behind attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.
Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile identified two of those arrested as 18-year-olds who sold napkins at the camp, noting that they are Lebanese citizens of bedouin origin.
“They had placed a tracking device in a car belonging to a relative of the martyr Mustafa,” al-Jadeed said, adding that the two have confessed to the charges.
“The two suspects confessed that their handler is called Hassan F., the attendant of a mosque in the al-Maashouq area between Tyre and al-Burj al-Shamali,” the TV network added, quoting Palestinian security sources.
“The three people were handed over to the Lebanese Army’s intelligence branch in the south, which arrested other individuals linked to the mosque attendant, who also has Lebanese citizenship,” al-Jadeed said.
Source: Naharnet
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