Hamas chief assassinated in Damascus A senior member of Hamas has been assassinated in Damascus, confirming long-held concerns among senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group that the Syrian capital is no longer a safe haven for the movement. Kamal Ghanaja was killed in his home on Wednesday, according to a statement that was issued by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. In an unusual move, the statement did not blame Israel for the attack, saying only that the group was still investigating who committed the "cowardly murder." The regime of Bashar al-Assad was viewed until recently as one of the closest supporters of the Hamas movement, and a vital provider of arms, training and funding. Damascus also served as the seat of the Hamas political bureau, providing a critical base for the group's activities. Since last year, however, the two sides have clashed repeatedly over the Assad regime's brutal attempt to quell an escalating domestic revolt - a policy that triggered unusually blunt criticism from Hamas leaders. Only a handful of Hamas members are believed to be still in Damascus, with top leaders such as Khaled Meshal now working out of Qatar, Egypt and other Arab countries. Israeli officials declined to comment on suggestions that the country's Mossad intelligence agency was responsible for the death, although Ehud Barak, Israeli defence minister, made clear that he and his colleagues had no regrets over Mr Ghanaja's death: "According to all the background published, he was no saint," the minister told army radio on Thursday. Israel has a long record of assassinating leading members of Palestinian militant groups, though it rarely confirms any direct involvement. Israeli agents have, however, been widely blamed for the killing of another senior Hamas member in a Dubai hotel room in January 2010. The killers of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were later identified by the Dubai authorities, who uncovered a wealth of evidence linking the attack to Israel. The Israeli government, however, neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in the Dubai killing. Hamas did not provide detail of the precise role that Mr Ghanaja played in the organisation. Israeli and Arab media reports suggested that he may have taken over Mr Mabhouh's alleged role as a senior organiser of arms shipments to Gaza - a position that would indeed make him a prime target for Israel.