Mohamed Zouari

Mohamed Zouari (Arabic: محمد الزواري‎), was born in 1967 and assassinated on December 15, 2016 in Sfax when he was shot dead in a drive-by shooting operation generally attributed to Mossad. Zouari was a Tunisian Aerospace engineer working for Hamas military wing The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.[1][2][3]

Mohamed Zouari
Born1967
Sfax, Tunisia
DiedDecember 15, 2016(2016-12-15) (aged 48–49)
Sfax, Tunisia
NationalityTunisia Sudan
OccupationAerospace Engineer
Notable work
Ababeel1 drones

Biography

Originally from, Mohamed Zouari was one of the followers of the Islamic political party Ennahdha, then he left Tunisia in 1991 to Syria in order to escape the wave of repression of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime.[1]

With a knowledge in aeronautics and in the design of drones,[2] he joined the ranks of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing,[1] where he supervised his unmanned aircraft manufacturing program Ababeel1 used in 2014 during the Gaza war of 2014.[4][5]

Zouari returned to Tunisia after the Tunisian Revolution.

Assassination

On December 15, 2016, while he was in his car about to drive it, a truck blocked him and two killers riddled him with twenty bullets including three fatal ones in the chest.[2] The killers used pistols fitted with silencers.[1] After the assassination, some hackers accessed the surveillance system of a restaurant near the place of the assassination and erased the contents of the video recordings.[2]

On December 17, 2016, Hamas, through a statement on its website, confirmed Mohamed Zouari's membership in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the role he played in the development of the Ababil drone.[6] Hamas also accused Israel of being behind the assassination and promised to avenge it.[5]

The Tunisian Government from its side announced that the Tunisian State will prosecute, both nationally and abroad, any person involved in this assassination.[7]

Asked about the assassination, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that Israel would continue to defend its interests.[8]

See also

References
  1. (in French) « Le Hamas accuse le Mossad du meurtre en Tunisie de l’un de ses cadres », Le Monde, 18 décembre 2016
  2. (in French) « Assassinat d’un expert en drones tunisien : l’ombre du Mossad », Libération, 18 décembre 2016
  3. « Hamas blames Israel for assassination of drone chief », Al Jazeera, 18 décembre 2016
  4. (in French)« Mouvement Hamas : les sionistes sont bien derrière l’assassinat de Mohamed Zouari », Webmanagercenter, 17 décembre 2016
  5. (in French)« Les sionistes sont bien derrière l’assassinat de Mohamed Zouari, affirme la branche armée du Hamas », Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, 17 décembre 2016
  6. « Qassam : le commandant Zouari a supervisé le projet des drones Ababil », Hamas, 17 décembre 2016 (Arabic)
  7. (in French)« Des représentants de la société civile au domicile de Mohamed Zouari pour présenter leurs condoléances », Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, 18 décembre 2016
  8. « Lieberman sur l'assassinat en Tunisie : "Il n'a pas été un candidat pour le Prix Nobel de la Paix" », Yediot Aharonot, 21 décembre 2016 (Hebrew)
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