Quiet assassination bid turns messy in Israel

By Paul Goldman, NBC News
TEL AVIV - As time goes by more details are emerging concerning the mysterious assassination in Dubai of Mahmoud al- Mabhouh, a top Hamas militant.

Dubai police showed closed-circuit video of the alleged killers arriving at the airport, checking into different hotels, shopping at a mall and staking out Mabhouh's hotel room.

The hit squad was long gone by the time the Dubai police found Mabhouh's body, leaving the police with the painstaking job of sifting through hours of security camera footage trying to track down the killers.

Dubai police identified 11 suspects holding British, Irish, German and French passports, and once the passport photos reached worldwide publication a few people here in Israel woke up to a new reality.

At least seven people who live in Israel share names with suspects identified by Dubai police. It turns out that whatever group masterminded the assassination apparently stole their identities. These seven Britons suddenly found themselves enveloped in the world of espionage and murder. The newspaper headlines are covered with reactions by these Israelis: "I'm angry, upset and scared" said Melvyn Adam Mildiner, a British national living in Beit Shemesh. He added, "I went to bed with pneumonia and woke up a murderer."

Paul Keely lives in a kibbutz called Nachshonim and told us over the phone: "I'm  waiting for somebody to tell me what's happening, I just want my life back."

The British citizens thrust into the center of an international murder plot have spoken of their shock, anger and fear. ITV's Phil Reay Smith reports.