Hezbollah commander Salim Jamil Ayyash, wanted for his role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to Saudi media reports on Sunday.
Al-Arabiya reported Ayyash was targeted near the Syrian city of al-Qusayr, a known Hezbollah stronghold. Social media sources claimed the airstrike specifically targeted Ayyash, a high-ranking Hezbollah member with a $10 million bounty placed by the United States. Ayyash was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment by a UN-backed tribunal in 2020 for orchestrating the 2005 car bombing in Beirut that killed Hariri.
The killing of Ayyash marks a continuation of Israel’s operations against Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups in Syria and Lebanon, which have intensified since October 2023. Following Hamas’s deadly assault on Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7 last year, Israel has increased airstrikes on Hezbollah positions, as well as Iranian-backed targets in Syria, in efforts to curb ongoing threats to its northern communities.
In recent months, multiple high-ranking Hezbollah commanders have been killed, including former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who died in a massive Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut in September. The IDF has also eliminated Ali Karaki, Hezbollah’s commander for operations along Israel’s southern border, and Fuad Shukr, one of Hezbollah’s top military officials.
The IDF’s campaign aims to neutralize Hezbollah’s ability to conduct cross-border attacks on Israel, particularly after consistent rocket and drone attacks in northern Israel. Since the renewed hostilities began, 40 Israeli civilians and 61 IDF soldiers have lost their lives in incidents stemming from Hezbollah attacks and Israel’s ground operations in southern Lebanon.
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One Response
So now that Israel eliminated him, will they get the $10,000,000 prize from the US or will they get censured by the UN and Washington voting along with the persecution (typo deliberate) at the UN?