Family of Hamas figure seeks to block Israel movie
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Relatives of a slain Hamas operative seek to block the release of a movie being made in Israel about his 2010 assassination in a Dubai luxury hotel, a family member said Sunday.
The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was widely blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency, which never confirmed or denied involvement. Israeli defense officials have alleged that he played a role in smuggling weapons from Iran to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The movie, which features Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli as a temptress working for the hit team, is a "Zionist conspiracy" to defame al-Mabhouh, said a cousin, Ahmed, who lives in Gaza. Details of the suit, including where to file it, are still being worked out, he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The movie's producer, Micha Scharfstein, said the movie takes artistic license and is not meant to be factual.
"Mabhouh, from our point of view, was a murderer with blood on his hands, and I don't see any reason not to do a movie about it," he said. The French-Israeli co-production "Kidron," Hebrew for "spear," is to be released in about half a year, he said.
Al-Mabhouh was killed Jan. 19, 2010 in a Dubai hotel room.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As part of the investigation, Dubai police released hotel camera footage showing the assassination team, wearing disguises, tracking its target. Authorities have said al-Mabhouh was apparently injected with a muscle relaxant and suffocated with a pillow.
Parts of the movie are now being filmed in the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat. In a movie plot twist, a gang of criminals murders al-Mabhouh in an attempt to frame the Mossad.
In one scene, Refaeli catches al-Mabhouh's eye by the hotel bar. He takes the bait, orders a drink, they have a chat and then leave together, the hotel surveillance cameras filming them as they go.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hamas is an Islamic fundamentalist organization. Its members are not supposed to drink alcohol or take up with women who are not their wives.
Ahmed al-Mabhouh said the family learned about the movie from the media and hopes to prevent its release. "We consider this movie ... a distortion of our late martyr and reject the Zionist conspiracy against him after his death which everyone knows is a lie," he said.