KUALA LUMBUR, April 21, 2018 (WAFA) – Palestinian lecturer Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh, 35, was shot dead near his house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Malaysian police said on Saturday. His family accused the Israeli Mossad of being behind what it said was an assassination.

Malaysian police chief in Gombak district, Mazlan Lazim, said that two gunmen on a motorcycle fired more than 14 bullets at Batsh as he was leaving his house to attend al-Fajr (dawn) prayer at a nearby mosque. One bullet hit him in the head and the rest hit his body killing him immediately. He said police has opened an investigation.

Batsh was an inventor and a private university lecturer. He hails from the town of Jabalya in the Gaza Strip. Batsh had won a prestigious scholarship in Malaysia, the Khazanah Scholarship, and was awarded the Best Academic Achievement award given by the scholarship administration.

Batsh’s family has confirmed his assassination, accusing the Israeli Mossad of responsibility for it.

It told WAFA that it has demanded from the Malaysian authorities to begin urgent investigation into the killing of its son in order to catch the culprits before they leave the country, adding that Batsh was supposed to travel to Turkey on Sunday to chair an international scientific conference on energy.

The family demanded that his body be returned to Jabalya to be buried there.

K.T./M.K.