Flag of Tunisia
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The Israeli Mossad was blamed on Friday for the killing in Tunisia of Mohammed Al-Zoari, a scientist with links to the Hamas terrorist group.

Al-Zoari, an aviation scientist, was shot dead by unknown assailants on Thursday near his home in the Tunisian city of Sfax, according to Channel 10 News.

A senior Tunisian journalist quoted by the channel claimed that the Mossad had been following the engineer for quite some time, and is responsible for his death.

It is unclear what the journalist’s sources are for this claim. Israel has not commented on the matter.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Mushir Al-Masri was quoted by Walla! News as having said on Friday he did not rule out the possibility that Israel was behind Al-Zoari’s death.

"The only body that would benefit from the assassination is the Zionist entity," he claimed.

The Tunisian Interior Ministry has announced that it has arrested five suspects in the murder, and also seized four cars that appear to have been used by the suspects. In addition, security forces seized two pistols with silencers and mobile devices.

Channel 10 noted that Al-Zoari, who is married to a Syrian woman, lived in Syria until before the civil war there started. He is known for his contacts with Hamas, and is credited with innovations in the field of UAVs.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)