( CNN ) -- A tall and beguiling blonde sits alone at the bar of a luxury Middle Eastern hotel . Looking across the lobby she seductively eyes a mustached Arab man . Emboldened by her enticing glances he approaches the bar and they begin chatting . Unbeknown to the man , he has just taken the bait in an elaborate trap that , in a matter of hours , will lead to his death and an international murder mystery . Their conversation is carefully recorded on camera and watched on a monitor by a team of technical experts a short distance away . They carefully assess the movements of their subjects and when the Arab man finally moves away from his new female acquaintance one of the observers cries `` cut ! '' The scene -- loosely based on a true story -- is being played out on the set of a new Israeli film called `` The Javelin , '' showcasing the unsolved murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room more than two years ago . Al-Mabhouh , a founding member of Hamas ' military wing , was found dead on January 20 , 2010 . Police believe he was killed the night before by a team of foreign agents , who after tracking al-Mabhouh 's movements from Syria into the United Arab Emirates , entered his hotel room , injected with him a muscle relaxant and then suffocated him . Speaking from the set at an Israeli resort hotel the film 's writer and director Emmanuel Naccache says he was immediately intrigued by the cloak-and-dagger case worthy of an Ian Fleming or John le Carre novel . `` What really fascinated me about this story was that within 5 minutes one morning the whole world accepted one truth , one story which is probably true or maybe true , '' Naccache remarked . That widely accepted story is that a group of more than two dozen disguised Israeli agents traveling on stolen passports were part of an elaborate plot by the Mossad spy agency to assassinate al-Mabhouh . Closed circuit cameras in Dubai hotels and airports infamously captured the last known movements of al-Mabhouh and those of his assassins leading Dubai police to assert that they were 100 % certain that the Mossad was behind the plot . A number of governments served Israel with diplomatic rebukes following the murder claiming passports from their countries had been forged as part of the operation . The Israeli government has until this day denied any responsibility for the murder . `` I do n't know if Israel carried out the assassination ... most of us kind of assume it , '' Naccache says . But it was the lack of certainty about the facts of the case that prompted Naccache to start writing the script . `` There is the reality that everyone knows or thinks they know from the newspapers , '' he explains . `` I want to tell the story slightly different with the same basis , with the same pictures with the same video camera and with the same type of character , but I did it my way . '' The film , Naccache says , does not attempt to recreate the known events in the al-Mabhouh case , but rather offers an alternative storyline to the one he says has become widely accepted . Naccache says he tries to answer some frequently asked questions about the assassination plot : Did the assailants want to be seen ? Were they not aware of the ubiquity of closed circuit surveillance cameras in Dubai or did they just not care ? And , did the agents overestimate their own abilities and underestimate the investigative skills of the Dubai police ? This is not the first time the Dubai killing has served as grist for Israeli popular culture . Just weeks after details of the case started emerging , an Israeli supermarket chain produced a television advertisement shot entirely on surveillance cameras with shoppers dressed as the agents in Dubai furtively stalking grocery aisles looking for bargains . `` We call it an assassination of prices ! '' the commercial 's director joked at the time , raising questions about the tastefulness of marketing off a murder . Al-Mabhouh 's assassination is not considered a laughing matter in Dubai or Gaza where his family lived , but in Israel the widespread belief that the Mossad was involved in the extra-judicial killing of a man considered to be a terrorist serves as a point of pride for many . Speaking at a media event for the new film , Israeli model-turned-actress Bar Refaeli , who plays a femme fatale impersonating a secret agent , underscored the admiration many in the country feel for those working in the Mossad . `` That 's my secret life dream : I would love to be in the Mossad -- and actually maybe I am -- who knows ? '' Refaeli , who is one of Israel 's best-known international faces , says she grew up hearing stories about the exploits of Mossad agents , but she acknowledges the sensitivity of the subject matter and works hard to avoid the politics . `` I do n't want people to think that I am pro or against because it does n't really matter what I think -- I am just playing a role as an actress in a movie that is based on a very interesting story . '' An interesting story that is still a mystery . Despite a global search none of the suspects Dubai police identified as Mossad agents has been prosecuted and few are holding their breath for a breakthrough in the case .
New film focuses on unsolved murder of Hamas leader in Dubai hotel in 2010 . The case has been linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Dubai police said they were 100 % certain that the Mossad was behind plot . Director of `` The Javelin '' says he is trying to offer an alternative storyline .