ISRAEL'S spy agency Mossad has taken out dozens of their enemies over the years using methods such as booby-trapped cars, phone bombs, remote-controlled guns and poison.

The techniques of the ruthless spies have developed into a fine art over the last 74 years of the agency's operation.

Mossad and the rest of Israel's intelligence services are facing questions over how the bloody massacre by Hamas that killed hundreds of civilians was not detected and stopped.

But in years gone by the group has shown themselves to be ruthlessly effective – being linked to numerous assassinations.

With an annual budget of nearly £2.2billion and more than 7,000 staff members, Israeli intelligence officers have one of the most difficult jobs on earth.

Surrounded by countries and groups who don't recognise their statehood – Israel fiercely protects its interests and its "right to exist".

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Since its formation in the late 1940s, Mossad agents are believed have taken out hundreds of militants and enemies of the state.

Within Mossad, one such group which carries out many of the operations is referred to as the Caesarea Unit.

Established in the early 1970s by famous Israeli spy Mike Harari, the unit operates mainly within Arab countries.

Within the Caesarea Unit, a more lethal group operates, known as Kidon — or "tip of the spear" in Hebrew.

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The secret operatives have an arsenal of methods at their disposal to take out adversaries.

Typically, the death squads employ traditional methods like sticky and magnetic bombs, which are detonated by remote control.

Some former agents also spoken of more unique techniques, such as poisoned toothpaste that takes months to kill its victims.

One of the first high-profile operations from Mossad followed the Munich Massacre in 1972, which saw 17 killed after a Palestinian militant group killed the Olympic Team.

Mossad carried out Operation Bayonet to kill individuals involved with the horror terrorist attack.

Between 1972 to 1988, secret agents killed dozens involved with the Munich massacre using car bombs, shootings, and other methods.

One of the most recent high-profile executions by Mossad was in 2020 when Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the mastermind of Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme, was eliminated.

The so-called"Kidon Unit" took out Dr Fakhrizadeh's using a remote control machine gun – which was smuggled into Iran and assembled piece-by-piece.

Graphic photos showed blood-stained pavement near his car after the assassination was carried out.

The entire operation took only three minutes from start to finish, and none of those involved have been able to be traced.

In 2011 Iranian nuclear scientist Darioush Rezaeinejad was shot five times and killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen in front of his home.

Magnetic bombs are a key weapon of choice for Mossad agents, as they can be detonated from afar.

The devices are intended to kill the occupants of cars without killing those nearby, which traditional car bombs often do.

In 2012, Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was killed by a magnetic bomb attached to the bottom of his car.

The group has also historically used phone bombs, as seen in the 1996 case which blew up the mobile phone of Hamas master bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash.

Poisoning has also been a preferred modus operandi, as it is quick and lethal in nearly all cases.

In 2007 long-time Mossad target and nuclear scientist Ardeshir Hosseinpour was believed to have been killed by poison gas amid fears he was spearheading the production of weapons grade plutonium. 

And in 2010, several dozen Mossad agents flew to Dubai with fake passports and disguises.

They then gained access to the room of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and used high-tech ultrasound equipment to inject poison into his neck without breaking the skin.

The team of top operatives were out of the country within four hours after the assassination.

But traditional forms of assassination are also a popular option for top secret operatives, such as car bombs.

In 2010 Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Masoud Alimohammadi was killed by a booby-trapped motorbike parked near his car which exploded while he was leaving for work. 

Majid Shahriari, a professor at Iran’s Shahid Beheshti University was killed a year later after an assassin attached a car bomb and detonated it from a distance.

The following year nuke expert Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was assassinated with a "magnetised explosive" attached to the side of his car.

Each operation from elite Mossad agents can only be carried out with the approval of the Prime Minister.

Once approved, the operation is sent for planning and execution, which can take months or years, depending on the case.

Despite hundreds of documented executions, Israel has never once admitted to being behind the list of deaths – all of whom were labelled as "enemies of the state".

It's thought that more executions may be in the pipeline from Israel after Hamas terrorists unleashed a bloodbath dubbed "Israel’s 9/11".

More than 1,100 people in Israel and Gaza have been killed since the Palestinian militant group stormed across the border on Saturday and massacred hundreds at a music festival.

Israel is now massing tanks and troops on the border with Gaza in the town of Sderot – with some 300,000 reserve troops deployed to the south.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reduce Gaza to “rubble” as he blitzes Hamas strongholds in revenge for Saturday's surprise attack.

He has already brought in special forces as his troops pound the Gaza Strip with relentless air strikes.

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The US is also moving several warships – including USS Gerald Ford – to the Mediterranean after Joe Biden pledged Washington's "rock solid" support to Tel Aviv.

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