Hamas chief: Mazen Faqha assassin now in custody

Hamas has arrested the suspected murderer of one of its key military commanders in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian movement's leader, Ismail Haniya said Thursday, while maintaining Israel was responsible for the March assassination.

"We announce that the killer and criminal that carried out the orders of the officers of the Zionist security services is in the hands of the [Hamas] security services," Ismail Haniya told journalists in the Gaza Strip.

"He has confessed to the crime."

On 24 March gunmen in the Palestinian territory shot dead Hamas official Mazen Faqha, who had been freed by Israel in a 2011 prisoner swap, in what appeared to be a planned assassination.

Faqha was released along with more than a thousand other Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years.

After Faqha was killed, Hamas pointed the finger of blame at "collaborators" and at Israel.

— Hamas Movement (@HamasInfoEn) March 24, 2017 " style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post No one has an interest in assassinating the ex-detainee Mazen Fuqahaa today in Gaza other than the Israeli Occupation. — Hamas Movement (@HamasInfoEn) March 24, 2017

Extreme measures

Throughout April, Hamas took far-reaching measures to catch the killers. 

During the first week of April, Hamas hung three suspected "Israel collaborators" suspected of links to the Faqha assassination.

The hangings occurred just three days after Hamas had promised amnesty to anyone who confessed to taking part in the assassination.

After the attack, a deputy of Hamas' Gaza branch's leader Khalil al-Haya, promised retaliation, but did not specify the measures Hamas would take.