Reuters breaks news of killing of leading Hamas figure

Reuters broke the news on Jan 29 that one of Hamas’ top military commanders had been assassinated in Dubai. The Palestinian Islamist group blamed Israel for the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, wanted by Israel since engineering the capture of Israeli soldiers in the 1980s. Reuters unearthed the news of Mabhouh’s death from a Hamas official in Damascus. Reporters in Damascus, Dubai and Jerusalem fleshed out events and explained Mabhouh’s killing was a serious setback for Hamas in its campaign against Israel. In Jerusalem, Reuters spoke to Israeli security sources who said Mabhouh played an important role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to Gaza. There was no official comment from Israel on Mabhouh’s death.