Israel is reportedly ready to acknowledge that it was behind the assassination of senior Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in the United Arab Emirates in January 2010.

The incoming chief of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad will personally apologize for the use of fake British passports in the assassination, Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.

Tamir Pardo will also promise London that Israel will never use British documents in its overseas operations again, the report added.

Although the Israeli agents who carried out the assassination left a trail of incriminating evidence, Tel Aviv still made strenuous efforts to evade an official mea culpa.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Pardo’s predecessor, Meir Dagan, refused to apologize for the use of British citizens’ identities. The ID theft revelation prompted Britain to expel Mossad’s station chief in London in March 2010.

Mabhouh was killed in his hotel room in Dubai on January 19, hours after he arrived in Dubai from Syria.

After the mysterious death of Mabhouh in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates published photos and identifying information on 26 people suspected to have played a role in tracking and killing the Hamas official.

Dubai police said the murder was carried out by a hit squad of at least 11 people carrying forged European passports: one French, three Irish, six British, and one German.

A French national, identified as Peter Elvinger, allegedly acted as the logistical mastermind in the Dubai hit.

(Press TV)