Israel has remained officially silent regarding reports that a team of Mossad agents were captured during a botched operation to kidnap a Hamas operative in Malaysia.
On Tuesday, the first images of the group of 11 suspects — 10 men and one woman — were published as they were brought to the court where they were charged.
Sebelas individu termasuk seorang wanita didakwa di Mahkamah Majistret Kuala Lumpur atas pertuduhan menculik seorang lelaki warga Palestin bagi mendapatkan maklumat berkaitan perisian yang digunakan untuk menggodam telefon bimbit. Diana Barka | Bernama pic.twitter.com/VlECq54rHn
— BERNAMA (@bernamadotcom) October 14, 2022
"The Israelis wanted to know about his experience in computer application development, Hamas' strength in developing software, members of the Al-Qassam Brigade that he knew and their strengths."
Malaysian New Straits Times source
The botched Mossad operation
The abduction-style capture of the Gazan man, whose ties to Hamas were allegedly subject to a Mossad investigation, occurred in Kuala Lumpur on September 28, according to local press.
Malaysian mercenaries allegedly operating on behalf of the Mossad drove up to two Palestinian nationals, who were reportedly computer programming experts. They dragged one into the vehicle – warning the other to stay away – and drove him to a secretive location, where he was tied up and forced to answer questions via a video call with Israeli agents, the Malaysian New Straits Times reported.
"The Israelis wanted to know about his experience in computer application development, Hamas' strength in developing software, members of the Al-Qassam Brigade that he knew and their strengths," a source told the paper.
Malaysian security forces freed the Palestinian man and arrested the alleged Mossad operatives 24 hours later, as the second alleged victim lodged a report at a Kuala Lumpur police station about 40 minutes after the abduction.
Malaysia and Hamas
On Tuesday, Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the government would take action if the reports were true.
"We should look into matters [allegations] like this, then we will announce [further action]," he said according to the Straits Times report.
In 2020, a Gazan imam was sentenced to a year in jail for smuggling funds from Malaysian charities to Hamas, and in 2018 a Hamas-affiliated Palestinian engineer from the Gaza Strip was shot dead in Kuala Lumpur in what many suspected was a Mossad assassination.