Committed to settling scores: Israel spy chief vows to make Hamas pay for its attacks

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: On Wednesday, the chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, vowed that the spy service will hunt down every member of Hamas involved in the October 7 attack, no matter where they are. His pledge, made during the funeral of ex-Mossad chief Zvi Zamir, came a day after the death of a Hamas leader in neighboring Lebanon. A day earlier, Saleh-al-Arouri, the deputy political leader of Hamas, was killed in a drone strike in southern Beirut. While Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the strike, Lebanese officials have accused the nation of carrying out the attack. 

According to an AP report, Barnea made reference to the 1972 Munich Massacre in emphasising that Israel will settle the score with “murderers who descended upon the Gaza envelope on October 7.”

"Every Arab mother ought know that if her son participated, directly or indirectly, in the slaughter of October 7, his blood shall be upon his own head,” added the spy chief. His comments were particularly symbolic given that he was delivering them at the funeral of the man who was responsible for orchestrating the Israeli response to the Munich Massacre.

The death of Arouri in neighboring Lebanon has sparked concerns that the conflict in Gaza, sparked by the October 7 attack on Israel, could now escalate and spread in the event that Hezbollah decides to retaliate. The Hamas-allied group has, thus far, kept its involvement in the conflict to the level of border skirmishes and has resisted calls to join the conflict in Gaza.

Following the alleged Israeli drone strike on the Hamas leader, Hezbollah issued a statement, condemning the action as “a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, sovereignty and resistance. We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment."

As noted above, while Israel has not directly commented on the strike, an AP report did quote the Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari as saying that "we are on high readiness for any scenario.”