Mahmoud Hamshari (-8 December 1972) was the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative in France. He was assassinated by Israel's Mossad during Operation Wrath of God, accused of trying to assassinate David Ben Gurion.
Biography[]
Mahmoud Hamshari was born in Mandatory Palestine, United Kingdom (present-day Palestine). He became a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and became their representative in France. He married a French woman, Marie-Claude, and had a daughter, Amina. After the Munich Massacre of 1972, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency began Operation Wrath of God, their campaign of assassinations against people suspected of being Black September Organization members. Hamshari was one of the targeted people, as he was believed to be a member of Black September. He was accused of plotting to assassinate David Ben Gurion and recruiting for Fatah in France. The Mossad contacted Le Group, a French private intelligence service, which tracked him down for them.
On 7 December 1972, a team of kidoni led by Avner Kaufman was sent to assassinate Professor Hamshari at his Paris apartment in their second assassination of the operation, after Wael Zwaiter. Kaufman's associate Robert posed as an Italian journalist, and interviewed Hamshari at his office. During their interview, Hamshari said that Palestinians were the world's largest refugee population and were doing anything they could to get their land back, and his wife Marie-Claude also stepped in to criticize Israel. After Robert finished his interview, he asked Hamshari if he could call his publisher. Hamshari pointed him to the adjacent room where the telephone was, and Robert headed there. He took a look at the type of phone and traced its shape on a notepad to determine how much explosives he should use. While Robert was using the phone, Hamshari's daughter Amina played an upbeat song on the piano, making Robert feel less excited about taking out Hamshari.
However, the plan went accordingly. While Hamshari was not in his apartment, Robert replaced his phone with a new phone, in which he placed plastic explosives. They left the apartment, having set up their bomb. The next day, 8 December, kidon Carl waited at a phone booth to make a call to the apartment, with Avner going to give the signal. The other team members Steve (the getaway driver), Hans (an assassin), and Robert (the bomb-maker) waited in the car. Robert was equipped with a detonator with a light that would flash red when the phone was picked up, and he would only have to turn the key. They waited for Marie-Claude to leave the house to drive Amina to her school, but they later returned so that Amina could grab her bag, which she forgot. When Carl made the call, the light flashed red on the detonator; however, Amina picked up the phone for her busy father, and Carl realized that she was in front of the bomb. Carl ran to the car and told them not to detonate the bomb, because they would kill the little girl. They waited until she left for good, and Carl returned to the phone.
In the second call, Hamshari picked up. The caller asked if he was Mahmoud Hamshari, and he responded positively. When he confirmed his identity, Carl gave the signal to Avner, who signaled the team. Robert turned the key in the detonator, and it sent a signal to the telephone in Hamshari's room, detonating it. A huge explosion destroyed his office, but Hamshari was only wounded. He was hospitalized and he was conscious, telling Parisian detectives what happened. However, he later succumbed to his wounds.