Funeral procession of killed Hamas member Hadi Mustafa in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp in Sour on 14 March 2024. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
Three people, including two men younger than 18, were arrested on Friday for allegedly spying for Israel and being involved in the assassination of Hamas member Hadi Mostafa in Sour earlier this month, Palestinian factions in the Rashidiyeh camp said in a statement.
"After the cowardly assassination of the al-Qassam martyr Hadi Mostafa Abou Chadi, which the zionist enemy did ... an initial investigation showed the involvement of some infiltrators on our camp in the association. They were handed to the relevant security forces in the Lebanese government," the statement said.
Palestinian security sources inside the camp told L'Orient Today that two men, who are under the age of 18, who were selling tissues in the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp where Mostafa lived and the person who assigned them the mission to track Mostafa in the camp were all arrested for allegedly spying for Israel.
An Israeli drone strike earlier this month targeted Mostafa's car south of the Lebanese coastal city of Sour.
The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee had said after the assassination that Mustafa was a "central member" who "directed sabotage cells and field operations in several countries," and was a key figure in Hamas's "construction department," headed by Samir Fandi, a close associate of Saleh al-Arouri. Both were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Jan. 2. When contacted by L’Orient Today, Hamas did not give details on the role Mustafa played within the organization.
