Slain engineer’s remains to arrive in Gaza on Wednesday, family member says
The remains of an engineer who was killed in Malaysia on Saturday will arrive in the Gaza Strip for burial on Wednesday, a family member said on Tuesday.
Fadi al-Batsh, 35, was shot dead this past Saturday morning by two men on a motorcycle in Kuala Lumpur while he was walking to a mosque for prayers, according to Mazlan Lazim, the city’s police chief.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Batsh – who according to Hamas was one of its members – was involved in developing rocket technology. Many Israeli news sites have reported he was a drone expert.
Several members of Batsh’s family from the northern Gaza Strip last Saturday accused the Mossad of killing their relative. Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh said on the same day that the Islamist movement “holds Israel responsible” for his death.
Liberman has suggested that Batsh was killed in an internal Palestinian dispute.
Batsh’s remains will enter Gaza on Wednesday at 2 p.m. by way of the Rafah crossing, the sole pedestrian passageway between Egypt and the coastal enclave, the family member told the Hamas-linked al-Rai news site.
PLO Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that Cairo agreed to allow for Batsh’s remains to enter Gaza, which he said would be transported to the Egyptian capital on Saudi Arabian Airlines before being sent to the Strip.
Louh did not say when he expected Batsh’s remains to arrive in Gaza.
This past Sunday, Liberman told Army Radio that Israeli authorities asked Egypt not to allow Batsh’s remains to be sent to Gaza.
“We told Egypt our stance – that they shouldn’t bring in the body though the Rafah crossing. We are working through the appropriate channels,” he said.
A spokesman for Liberman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.