PNN – A court in Tunisia has sentenced 11 accused Zionist spies to life imprisonment in the case of the assassination of Mohamed Zouari, a technical commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Judicial sources in Tunisia announced that 11 defendants in the Mohamed Zouari assassination case have been sentenced to life imprisonment. According to the report, this verdict was issued after a court session held at the specialized criminal chamber for terrorism cases in the Tunisian Court of First Instance.
Mokhtar Al-Jama’i, a member of the court’s defense team, stated that all the defendants were absent when the verdict was issued and are all considered fugitives.
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According to the Tunisian judiciary, 11 defendants were tried on charges of the premeditated murder of Mohamed Zouari. Among them, two Bosnian nationals named Erik Sarak and Alan Kamzic have been identified as the direct perpetrators of the assassination. Six other foreign nationals and three Tunisian citizens have also been implicated in the case.
Mohamed Zouari was assassinated on December 15, 2016, at the age of 49, while getting into his car in front of his home in the city of Sfax in southern Tunisia. The assailants killed this Tunisian engineer by firing 20 bullets. At the time of his assassination, he was working on a university project for a doctoral degree in the field of building unmanned submarines.
Following this assassination, the Hamas movement announced that Zouari was a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, its military wing, and supervised the project to develop the “Ababil 1” drones.
Hamas, at that time, accused the foreign intelligence service of the Zionist regime (Mossad) of involvement in this assassination.
According to Al-Qassam, the drones designed by Zouari were used during the Al-Aqsa Storm operation on October 7, 2023. Al-Qassam released a video showing footage of these suicide drones in use, which, after flying, hit designated targets and explode.
The “Zouari” drone was first introduced in 2015 as a reconnaissance drone, and its first operational deployment dates back to May 19, 2021, during the Battle of Saif al-Quds. This drone, capable of carrying light explosive ordnance and featuring a small size and low thermal signature, has the ability to approach targets undetected and carry out high-precision operations remotely.