Hussein Mohammad Moqdad, around 63, a Hezbollah operative from Unit 1800 who became known in Israel as “the bungler,” died in Lebanon on Thursday. Moqdad, who was sent in 1996 to carry out an attack in Jerusalem, was wounded but survived after a “work accident” left him severely disabled. He was later released in a prisoner exchange and returned to propaganda activity for the terrorist organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April 1996, he was sent to Israel by Imad Mughniyeh – Hezbollah’s then commander of external operations, who was later killed in an operation attributed to Israel and the United States – with the aim of carrying out a mass-casualty attack. Moqdad entered Israel through Ben Gurion Airport on April 4 using a forged British passport in the name of “Andrew Newman,” carrying explosives and detonators concealed inside a radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spent several days in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel before moving to Jerusalem, where he stayed at the Lawrence Hotel in the eastern part of the city. According to his confession during interrogation, his main objective was to target then-prime minister Shimon Peres. Reports at the time also pointed to the possibility of an attack on an El Al aircraft or a bombing in a crowded location in West Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 12, while assembling the explosive device in his hotel room, the explosives detonated. The blast caused extensive damage to the rooms, severed both of his legs and one of his hands, and left him blind and with additional severe injuries throughout his body. Eyewitnesses described him burning and screaming. He was immediately arrested by Israeli security forces, treated in Israeli hospitals and imprisoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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