23 July 2018•Update: 23 July 2018
By Mustafa Habboush and Abdul Razak bin Abdullah
ALGIERS, Algeria / GAZA, Palestine
Two Palestinians have been found dead in the Algerian capital, according to the Palestinian Embassy in Algeria.
Suleiman al-Farra and Mohamed al-Banna from the Gaza Strip were found dead in their home in the capital Algiers late Sunday, embassy spokesman Ahmed Abu Shawish told Anadolu Agency.
“There was no sign of assault on their bodies,” he confirmed.
Speaking to a local Algerian television, Palestinian ambassador Luai Essa said the deaths were likely caused by natural gas leak.
Omar al-Farra said he had lost contact with his brother, a political sciences student, two days ago.
“He was found dead along with his friend al-Banna,” he said.
Al-Farra said his family was told by the Palestinian Embassy that the deaths were caused by gas inhalation.
Wael al-Banna has been trying to locate his brother, a physician, since Saturday, and he was later found dead at al-Farra’s apartment.
Palestinian group Fatah’s office in Algeria said al-Farra, 33, was the head of the group’s student office in Algeria.
There was no comment from the Algerian authorities on the death of the two Palestinians.
In April, a Palestinian lecturer was shot dead by two gunmen near his home in Malaysia, with his family accusing Israeli spy agency Mossad of murdering him.
In late 2016, Palestinian drone expert Mohamed al-Zawari, was shot dead in Tunisia, with Palestinian group Hamas accusing Israel of killing him.
Israel is widely believed to have killed numerous Palestinian resistance activists in the past, many of them overseas.
In 1997, Mossad agents tried -- and failed -- to kill Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal in Jordan by spraying poison into his ear.
Mossad is also believed to have been behind the assassination in 2010 of top Hamas commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh in a Dubai hotel.
Israel has never confirmed or denied its involvement in Mabhuh’s murder.
