The police commander of Dubai announced this week that there are important developments in the investigation into the death of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud Mabchouch, who was found dead in his hotel room on January 20th. He said details, including photographs of seven people who recently entered the country on European passports, will be publicized in the next few days. He added that the modus operandi indicates a political murder pointing to the involvement of the Mossad Israeli intelligence agency.

A Hamas source told the Saudi newspaper Uchaz on Tuesday that negotiations for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have been suspended for the time being because of Mabchouch's death. Before the announcement of the death, they blamed an impasse in the talks on Israel's refusal to meet their demands for the release of senior terrorists.