Hamas has beefed up security around its top leadership following the assassination of Mazen Faqha, a senior member of the movement’s so-called military wing, according to an informed Hamas militant.
Security has been tightened mainly around the newly elected members of the central committee, including diplomatic leader Yehya Senwar, the founder of the military wing who, like Faqha and more than 1,000 other Palestinians, was released from Israeli jail in a 2011 swap deal in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Faqha was killed over the weekend outside his house in Tal Alhawa, a seaside suburb of Gaza City, by assassins carrying pistols with silencers. Hamas attributed the assassination to Israel.
A Hamas source told Breitbart Jerusalem that “following the assassination that was undoubtedly carried out by professionals Hamas chose to tighten security around its leaders by no less than five experienced bodyguards, on top of the 4-7 bodyguards each leader, according to his seniority, already has.”
Other than Senwar, Ismail Haniyeh, Khalil AL-Hayeh, Rawhi Mushtaha, Mahmoud Al-Zahar and others have been subjected to new security measures, the source said.
Also, 2-3 bodyguards were assigned to each of the senior militants who were released in 2011, especially those from the West Bank who were barred from returning to their communities.
The source, a senior militant, said that dozens of potential eyewitnesses of Faqha’s assassination have been questioned by Hamas, including neighbors, fishermen and Hamas activists.
“However, no arrests have been made of suspects directly involved in the killing,” he said. “I assume it will happen in the coming days, as the investigation progresses.”
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