Mohamed Zouari
Mohamed Zouari | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1967 Sfax, Tunisia |
| Died | 15 December 2016 (aged 49) Sfax, Tunisia |
| Occupation | Aerospace engineer |
| Notable work | Ababeel1 drones |
Mohamed Zouari (Arabic: محمد الزواري; January 1967 – 15 December 2016) was a Tunisian aerospace engineer working for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. He was assassinated in his hometown of Sfax on 15 December 2016 when he was shot dead in a drive-by shooting that has been widely attributed to the Mossad.[1][2][3]
Biography
Mohamed Mahmoud Zouari was born in January 1967 in to a conservative Muslim family in Sfax, Tunisia.[4][5] He was one of the followers of the Islamic political party Ennahdha. He left Tunisia in 1991 to Syria to escape the wave of political repression by the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime.[1]
Having gained knowledge of aeronautics and of 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 its unmanned aircraft manufacturing program. The unmanned aircraft developed in this program, the Ababeel1, were first used on the battlefield during the Gaza war of 2014.[6][7] Zouari returned to Tunisia after the Tunisian Revolution of 2010-11.
Assassination
On 15 December 2016, after getting in his car and just about to drive away, a truck drove up and blocked the way. Two shooters opened fire with silenced firearms, firing about twenty shots. Zouari was mortally wounded, as three bullet hits to the chest turned out to be fatal.[2][1] After the assassination, the surveillance system of a restaurant near the place of the assassination had its video recordings erased by an unknown external party.[2]
Hamas confirmed Mohamed Zouari's membership of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the role he played in the development of the Ababil drone in a statement released on its website on 17 December 2016.[8] It also accused Israel of being behind the assassination and promised to avenge Zouari.[7]
The Tunisian Government announced that it will prosecute, both nationally and abroad, any person involved in Zouari's assassination.[9]
Asked about the assassination, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that Israel would continue to defend its interests.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Le Hamas accuse le Mossad du meurtre en Tunisie de l'un de ses cadres" [Hamas accuses Mossad of murder of one of its cadres in Tunisia]. Le Monde.fr (in French). 18 December 2016.
- ^ a b c d Behar, Nissim. "Assassinat d'un expert en drones tunisien : l'ombre du Mossad" [Assassination of a Tunisian drone expert: the shadow of Mossad]. Libération (in French).
- ^ "Hamas blames Israel for assassination of drone chief". www.aljazeera.com. 18 December 2016.
- ^ محمد الزواري.. طيار "حماس" الذي اغتالته إسرائيل وعاد اسمه مع "طوفان الأقصى" [Mohammed Al-Souri.. A Hamas pilot who was assassinated by Israel and his name returned with "Al-Aqsa Flood"]. TRT Arabic Channel (in Arabic). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ محمد الزواري: من هو مهندس طائرات حماس المسيّرة؟ [Who is Mohammed Al-Zawari, Hamas's drone engineer?]. BBC News (in Arabic). 9 October 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ "Mouvement Hamas: Les sionistes sont bien derrière l'assassinat de Mohamed Zouari" [Hamas Movement: Zionists are indeed behind the assassination of Mohamed Zouari] (in French). 17 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Les sionistes sont bien derrière l'assassinat de Mohamed Zouari, affirme la branche armée du Hamas" [Zionists are behind the assassination of Mohamed Zouari, claims Hamas' armed wing] (in French). Agence Tunis Afrique Presse. 17 December 2016.
- ^ القسام: القائد الزواري أشرف على مشروع طائرات الأبابيل [Al-Qassam: Commander Al-Zawari supervised the Ababil drones project]. Islamic Resistance Movement (in Arabic). 18 December 2016.
- ^ "Des représentants de la société civile au domicile de Mohamed Zouari pour présenter leurs condoléances" [Civil society representatives at Mohamed Zouari's home to offer their condolences] (in French). Agence Tunis Afrique Presse. 18 December 2016.
- ^ Blumenthal, Itai; Case, Roy (20 December 2016). ליברמן על החיסול בתוניסיה: "הוא לא היה מועמד לנובל לשלום" [Lieberman on the assassination in Tunisia: "He was not nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize"]. Ynet (in Hebrew) – via www.ynet.co.il.