A Palestinian scientist who was shot dead in Malaysia was a rocket expert and "no saint," but Hamas allegations that Israel's Mossad spy agency assassinated him are false, Israel's defense minister said on Sunday.
Two men on a motorcycle fired 10 shots at engineering lecturer Fadi al-Batsh in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, killing him on the spot, city police chief Mazlan Lazim said.
The two shooters are believed to be European and likely operated on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency, Malaysia's deputy prime minister said Sunday.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who claimed the victim as one of the group's members, said the Mossad had been behind past attempts to kill Palestinian scientists, and the attack on Batsh "follows this sequence."
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said it was likely Batsh was killed as part of an internal Palestinian dispute.
"We heard about it in the news. The terrorist organizations blame every assassination on Israel – we're used to that," Lieberman told Israel Radio.
"The man was no saint and he didn't deal with improving infrastructure in Gaza – he was involved in improving rocket accuracy. ... We constantly see a settling of accounts between various factions in the terrorist organizations and I suppose that is what happened in this case," he said.
An autopsy was being conducted on Batsh on Sunday, Malaysian media outlets reported.
Malaysian police said Batsh, 35, was shot early Saturday as he was heading to a mosque for dawn prayers in the capital. The police said closed-circuit television footage showed him being targeted by assassins who had waited for him for almost 20 minutes.
"We are investigating all angles. I have to investigate very carefully and deeply. This is an international issue," Lazim said in a statement.
"Preliminary investigations found four gunshot wounds on the victim's body. Two bullet slugs were found at the scene of the incident."
A 'loyal' member of Hamas
Hamas described Batsh as an important and "loyal" member of the organization, and a "scientist of Palestine's youth scholars." It gave no further details on his scientific accomplishments but said he had made "important contributions" and participated in international forums in the field of energy.
Hamas initially stopped short of blaming Israel, saying only that he had been "assassinated by the hand of treachery."
But later Haniyeh, its top leader, accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of killing him, and threatened retaliation.
"There will be an unsettled account between us and it [the Mossad]," Haniyeh said at the mourning tent in Gaza on Saturday.
"We cannot give up on the blood of our sons, youths and scholars. The fight between us and Israel has moved abroad and Hamas' response will be at the time and place of its choosing."
Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz told the Ynet news website Sunday that if Hamas carries out a terrorist attack abroad, Israel will target the group's leaders.
"I advise Haniyeh, who in fact threatened terrorist attacks against Israelis abroad, to talk less and be more careful," Katz said.
"You need to understand, Gaza is much closer than Malaysia.
"This crosses a red line. Activity of this sort will lead Israel to revisit its policy of targeted assassinations and senior Hamas members in Gaza, Haniyeh among them, can expect to be hit hard."
On the killing of Batsh, Katz said, "Israel doesn't comment on these types of incidents, but based on what has been reported up to now about the man's work, and the anguished outcry from Hamas' leaders in Gaza, it seems he wasn't a saint and Israel has no reason to shed a tear over his departure.
"Hamas is part of Iran's axis of evil in the region, and many elements in this region, not just Israel, have an interest in undermining its capabilities."
Though Hamas stressed Batsh's scientific background, the funeral service of the terrorist group's military wing and the mourning tent suggested he was actually a military commander. A banner at the mourning tent in Jabaliya described Batsh as a member of the military wing, and, in a formation typical for senior Hamas commanders, 10 masked militants in camouflage uniforms stood in a line outside the tent to greet mourners.
Batsh's father called on the Malaysian authorities to investigate the shooting urgently.
Besides his Hamas affiliation, Batsh was also the cousin of Khaled al-Batsh, a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which also blamed the Mossad for the assassination, without providing evidence.
Mohammad Shedad, 17, a student and a relative of the victim, also blamed the Mossad for the killing.
"It is definitely the work of Mossad. Fadi is a very clever person, anyone who is clever is a threat to Israel," he told reporters outside Batsh's Malaysian home.
"Fadi is a Hamas member and knows how to make rockets, so [Israel] thinks he is dangerous," Shedad said.
'Foreign agents'
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Malaysia's deputy prime minister, said the government was looking into the possibility of the involvement of "foreign agents" in the killing. He told local media that initial investigations showed the assailants were two "white men" driving a powerful BMW 1100cc motorbike.
Batsh may have been regarded as "a liability for a country that is an enemy of Palestine," Hamidi was quoted as saying by the state-run Bernama news agency.
Hamidi added that Batsh was "an electrical engineer and an expert at making rockets."
Batsh specialized in electrical and electronic engineering and worked at a Malaysian university. He had lived there with his family for the past eight years and was an imam at a local mosque.
He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Malaya in 2015 and was a senior lecturer at the British Malaysian Institute. His official biography said his research interests included power converters, power quality and renewable energy.
However, Israeli media outlets reported that he was also deeply involved in Hamas' drone development project. Reports said Batsh had published material recently on drone development and on transmitters for controlling drones.
According to an Israeli news report, Malaysia has proved a "paradise" for Hamas in recent years. Hadashot TV news said Hamas has sent numerous young Gazans to the country for technical training and fund-raising.
'No funeral in Gaza'
The family of slain Israeli soldier Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose remains have been held by Hamas since he was killed in Gaza in the summer of 2014, asked the Israeli government to prevent Batsh from being buried in Gaza.
"Israel must also ask Egypt not to allow the terrorist's body to go through the Rafah border crossing," the family said.
Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett echoed the family's call, saying Batsh should not be buried in Gaza until the bodies of Israeli soldiers are returned. He pledged to raise the matter at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.
