TEL AVIV – Hamas has questioned dozens of expats in Gaza, including American nationals, and found no evidence connecting them to the assassination of a senior militant, an official in the movement told Breitbart Jerusalem.
Mazen Faqha, who was released from Israeli jail in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal, was killed by unknown assassins last month. Hamas immediately blamed Israel.
Most of the people questioned entered the Gaza Strip in the fortnight preceding the assassination, the official said, adding that Palestinians with dual citizenship were among those interrogated.
The source said the investigation has failed to yield any leads so far, prompting Hamas to consider ending a six-day closure of Gaza’s border crossings.
The source also said that Hamas continues to investigate its operatives on suspicion of being Israeli informants.
Other former prisoners released as part of the 2011 deal were questioned in an attempt to establish patterns of behavior. They were asked about phone calls they received and suspicious figures or vehicles that they might have detected in their vicinity, the official said.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday that the assassination might have been the result of internal feuds within Hamas.
The source rejected the allegation but said that Hamas members from Faqha’s inner circle were also questioned.
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