As the Malaysian authorities conduct an autopsy on the body of Dr. Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh, Israel’s War Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the government will not allow the casualty’s body to reach Gaza through Israel.

“However, if they try to transfer it through Egypt and the Rafah Border Crossing, then we won’t have any control over the matter,” said Lieberman.

“They are always blaming us for these things. With the same accuracy rate of their claims, it would be possible to also blame James Bond,” he claimed. “We don’t need to comment on every remark made by [Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh. We are focusing on what’s happening along our borders.”

“We don’t allow the bodies of Hamas terrorists to enter the Gaza Strip,” Lieberman said when he was asked about the possibility of Batsh being buried in the coastal enclave. “We won’t allow the transfer of the engineer’s body from Malaysia to Gaza for a burial”.

Avigdor Lieberman

“However, if they try to transfer it through Egypt and the Rafah Border Crossing, then we won’t have any control over the matter, even though yesterday evening we conveyed our position through the acceptable channels,” he added.

Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett also said he would work to prevent the return of Batsh’s body to Gaza until the bodies of captive Israeli soldiers held by Hamas in Gaza are returned to Israel.

On Sunday morning, the Malaysian authorities started an autopsy on the body of Dr. Fadi al-Batsh.

Batash, 35, was an expert in alternative energy and unmanned aircraft systems. He was reportedly shot by masked gunmen at 6 a.m. (local time) while on his way to dawn prayers at a mosque.

For the past decade, Batash had been living in Malaysia, where he worked as a teacher at a private university and was active in a Malaysian charity for Palestinian welfare.

Dr. Batsh’s father has requested from the Malaysian authorities that his body be sent back to Gaza and that a probe be immediately launched into the assassination.

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Featured image is from PIC.