Wadie Haddad was a wanted man. The chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was involved in several high-profile attacks, including the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane, known as the Entebbe Hijacking. The hijackers took the plane from Tel Aviv to Paris, but diverted it to Libya and then Uganda. Israel responded with Operation Thunderbolt, a daring rescue mission led by Lt. Col Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The mission succeeded but Lt. Col Netanyahu died in the process — a fact that Bibi never forgave or got over. His brutal intransigence continues to be all too obvious in the deadly war on Gaza.This historic mission is recounted after this week's assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. According to media reports, the Mossad hired Iranian security agents to plant explosives in a Tehran guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying, detonating them remotely from Mossad HQ when it was confirmed that he and his bodyguard were in the room.Iran has since arrested dozens of guest house staff, security and intelligence suspects, hoping to find the link between Iran and those responsible. God help those people, who are being tortured as I write this.However, the Israel-Palestine conflict has been marked by a long history of violence and controversial tactics ... some of it quite unorthodox. The Mossad wanted revenge for Entebbe. And Haddad, the mastermind behind the hijacking, was their top target. At the top of the "Kill List" ... his days were numbered. Yet Haddad had been in the Mossad’s crosshairs for years. The man seemed to have nine lives. An RPG fired through his window had barely scratched him. A bomb dropped on a Beirut stadium had somehow missed him. And getting him at home seemed impossible, because his wife and young children were always around.Plus, he lived in Beirut. And killing a high-up official deep in enemy territory was no trivial thing. So the Mossad had to get creative. They needed something that wouldn’t leave marks. Something they could deploy from a distance, without risking an operative.To avoid a messy execution, the Mossad chose a quiet method — toothpaste. They assigned the mission to an agent known as "Agent Sadness," who had access to Haddad's home and office, according to NDTV World. On January 10, 1978, the deed was done. Agent Sadness replaced Haddad's regular toothpaste with a specially prepared toxic version. The toxin, developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research, would go on to penetrate Haddad's mucous membranes and gradually build up to a fatal dose, the report said.Every time Haddad brushed his teeth, a tiny quantity of the toxin worked its way through his gums into his bloodstream.By mid-January, Wadie Haddad fell gravely ill in Baghdad. His symptoms were severe, consisting of abdominal spasms, loss of appetite and rapid weight loss of over 25 pounds.Despite treatment by top Iraqi doctors, his condition continued to deteriorate. Even powerful antibiotics had no effect. His hair started falling out, raising suspicions of poisoning, the report said.Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, sought help from the East German Secret Service, the infamous Stasi.The Stasi airlifted Wadie Haddad to East Berlin and admitted him to a secret hospital under the alias "Ahmed Doukli." Doctors tested him extensively, but could not determine the cause of his illness. He died on March 29, 1978.The list of Israeli assassinations is long and lengthy, and marked by the lack of accountability. But none of them have the weight of this past week's killing, which risks sparking an all-out war in the Mideast.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised “harsh punishment” for Israel in retaliation for the killing of Haniye.“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and made us bereaved,” Khamenei said in a statement on July 28, adding that “it also prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself.”Yet, the Mossad doesn't always kill its targets, and its infiltration of the inner workings of Iranian intelligence agencies and security establishment is nothing short of remarkable.This past spring the Mossad said it carried out an operation in Iran to capture the suspected head of a hit squad that planned to kill Israelis in Cyprus. The spy agency, which rarely speaks to the media, said the man gave a detailed "confession" about his orders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.It said it informed authorities in Cyprus, where the cell was then dismantled. The case is the latest reminder of the continuing shadow war between Israel and Iran, which are long-time enemies.
Wadie Haddad was a wanted man. The chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was involved in several high-profile attacks, including the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane, known as the Entebbe Hijacking. The hijackers took the plane from Tel Aviv to Paris, but diverted it to Libya and then Uganda. Israel responded with Operation Thunderbolt, a daring rescue mission led by Lt. Col Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The mission succeeded but Lt. Col Netanyahu died in the process — a fact that Bibi never forgave or got over. His brutal intransigence continues to be all too obvious in the deadly war on Gaza.This historic mission is recounted after this week's assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. According to media reports, the Mossad hired Iranian security agents to plant explosives in a Tehran guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying, detonating them remotely from Mossad HQ when it was confirmed that he and his bodyguard were in the room.Iran has since arrested dozens of guest house staff, security and intelligence suspects, hoping to find the link between Iran and those responsible. God help those people, who are being tortured as I write this.However, the Israel-Palestine conflict has been marked by a long history of violence and controversial tactics ... some of it quite unorthodox. The Mossad wanted revenge for Entebbe. And Haddad, the mastermind behind the hijacking, was their top target. At the top of the "Kill List" ... his days were numbered. Yet Haddad had been in the Mossad’s crosshairs for years. The man seemed to have nine lives. An RPG fired through his window had barely scratched him. A bomb dropped on a Beirut stadium had somehow missed him. And getting him at home seemed impossible, because his wife and young children were always around.Plus, he lived in Beirut. And killing a high-up official deep in enemy territory was no trivial thing. So the Mossad had to get creative. They needed something that wouldn’t leave marks. Something they could deploy from a distance, without risking an operative.To avoid a messy execution, the Mossad chose a quiet method — toothpaste. They assigned the mission to an agent known as "Agent Sadness," who had access to Haddad's home and office, according to NDTV World. On January 10, 1978, the deed was done. Agent Sadness replaced Haddad's regular toothpaste with a specially prepared toxic version. The toxin, developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research, would go on to penetrate Haddad's mucous membranes and gradually build up to a fatal dose, the report said.Every time Haddad brushed his teeth, a tiny quantity of the toxin worked its way through his gums into his bloodstream.By mid-January, Wadie Haddad fell gravely ill in Baghdad. His symptoms were severe, consisting of abdominal spasms, loss of appetite and rapid weight loss of over 25 pounds.Despite treatment by top Iraqi doctors, his condition continued to deteriorate. Even powerful antibiotics had no effect. His hair started falling out, raising suspicions of poisoning, the report said.Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, sought help from the East German Secret Service, the infamous Stasi.The Stasi airlifted Wadie Haddad to East Berlin and admitted him to a secret hospital under the alias "Ahmed Doukli." Doctors tested him extensively, but could not determine the cause of his illness. He died on March 29, 1978.The list of Israeli assassinations is long and lengthy, and marked by the lack of accountability. But none of them have the weight of this past week's killing, which risks sparking an all-out war in the Mideast.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised “harsh punishment” for Israel in retaliation for the killing of Haniye.“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and made us bereaved,” Khamenei said in a statement on July 28, adding that “it also prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself.”Yet, the Mossad doesn't always kill its targets, and its infiltration of the inner workings of Iranian intelligence agencies and security establishment is nothing short of remarkable.This past spring the Mossad said it carried out an operation in Iran to capture the suspected head of a hit squad that planned to kill Israelis in Cyprus. The spy agency, which rarely speaks to the media, said the man gave a detailed "confession" about his orders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.It said it informed authorities in Cyprus, where the cell was then dismantled. The case is the latest reminder of the continuing shadow war between Israel and Iran, which are long-time enemies.
