Israel Assassinates Hamas Bomb Maker 'The Engineer' in Gaza
Yahya Ayyash, mastermind of suicide bombings, killed by exploding mobile phone in targeted assassination sparking vows of revenge.
Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’s chief bomb maker known as “The Engineer,” was killed today in Gaza when his mobile phone exploded in a sophisticated Israeli assassination operation. The 29-year-old Palestinian, responsible for bombs that killed over 70 Israelis, had been Israel’s most wanted man.
Ayyash died instantly when he answered a booby-trapped phone at a friend’s house in Beit Lahiya. Israeli intelligence had reportedly given the phone to a Palestinian collaborator who passed it to Ayyash’s associates. The small explosive charge was detonated remotely when agents confirmed his identity.
The electrical engineering graduate from Birzeit University had become a legend among Palestinians for evading capture while orchestrating the suicide bombing campaign that nearly derailed the Oslo peace process. His devices were used in attacks on buses in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other cities.
Hamas immediately vowed “earthquaking” revenge for the assassination. Thousands of Palestinians poured into Gaza’s streets chanting for retaliation, as Hamas distributed statements declaring Ayyash a martyr whose death would be avenged.
The killing comes amid Israeli elections, with Prime Minister Shimon Peres under pressure to prove his security credentials against challenger Benjamin Netanyahu. While Israelis celebrate the elimination of a mass murderer, security forces are bracing for the inevitable Hamas response.
The assassination demonstrates Israel’s reach into Palestinian-controlled areas but also risks triggering a new wave of suicide attacks that could influence the upcoming Israeli elections and further damage the already fragile peace process.