The Head Of Shin Bet Makes Sure To Eliminate Hamas In Gaza To Overseas Even Though It Takes Years

Illustration of Israeli security forces. (Wikimedia Commons/Israel Police)

JAKARTA - The head of Israel's security agency confirmed that his party will try to eliminate the Hamas militant group wherever they are, including abroad.

This was conveyed by Shin Bet Head Ronen Bar in a recording revealed Sunday evening on the Kan public broadcaster.

"The cabinet set a goal for us, to get rid of Hamas. And we are determined to do it, this is our Munich," he said in the recording, reported by The Times of Israel, December 4.

"In every location, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everything," he continued.

"It will take a few years, but we will be there to make it happen," stressed Bar.

Bar admitted the intelligence agency failed in its mission ahead of the Hamas onslaught on October 7. However, Shin Bet is "now on an upward trend" and has taken lessons from the day's failures and implemented them.

He added that the threats against Israel over the past year were "unprecedented" and many of them were unknown to the public.

"The responsibility for security is in our hands. Our job is to provide security and a sense of security," said Bar, quoted by CNN.

Quoting Reuters, it is not clear when Bar made this statement or to whom. The agency itself declined to comment on the report.

Shin Bet or Israel Security Agency is the country's domestic security agency tasked with fighting terrorism.

Bar's mention of Munich refers to what happened on September 5, 1972 at the Munich Olympics, when two Israelis were killed and nine people were taken hostage by members of Black September, an armed group movement that demanded the release of Palestinian political prisoners by Israel.

At the end of last October, Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid revealed six key figures from the Hamas group who must be eliminated at home and abroad.

"The State of Israel must not stop and must not let go until we kill six people: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniyeh, Saleh al-Arouri, Khaled Mashaal and Marwan Issa," said Lapid while naming the top Hamas officials he was referring to.

It is known that a number of top Hamas officials are abroad, with the group's top political leaders generally in Qatar.

"The six must die. Until they die, Israel will not avenge the murders of Be'eri and Sderot, Kfar Aza and Ofakim. Until they die, the Middle East will not understand that we are not messing around," he stressed.