Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said that Israel was behind the assassination of Hamas operative and Palestinian engineer Dr. Fadi al-Batsh in Malaysia on Saturday, alleging that Israeli agents were systematically assassinating Arab scientists.
On Saturday, two men on a motorcycle fired 10 shots at engineering lecturer and Hamas rocket expert Batsh in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, killing him on the spot.
In a speech broadcast to a campaign rally in the Shi’ite Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh ahead of Lebanon’s elections next month, Nasrallah said Israel was hunting academics down around the world.
“[Israel] cannot stand that there are Arab and Muslim minds that identify with the Arab-nationalist ideology, and that is why it took out scientists from Iran, from Tunisia and also Lebanese scientists,” Nasrallah told supporters. “The criminal Israeli aggression is manifested in the assassinations and targeted killings that are part of the Zionist enemy’s ongoing and organized program against the opposition.”
On Monday, Malaysian police issued facial composites of the suspects in Batsh’s murder, which were also distributed to airports across the Muslim-majority country, in the hopes that someone would recognize the perpetrators and help capture them.
According to the local police chief, the suspects had fair complexions, and were either of Middle Eastern or European descent. He said they were well-built, in excellent shape and around 1.80 meters [5 feet 9 inches] tall.
He said he did not know if the perpetrators were still in the country.