Hezbollah terrorist reported killed in Israeli airstrike in Damascus

No injuries or damage was reported.

It said in a statement it held the Lebanese government responsible for attacks emanating from its territory and that it would “continue to act against any attempt to harm Israel’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens”.

They said at least six strikes had hit a busy market place in the heart of the city, several government buildings and residential areas.

An Israeli official has since welcomed the death, but would not confirm if it was Israeli officials who did in fact carry out the attacks, reported the BBC.

Leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Samir Qantar, died Sunday night in an alleged Israeli strike in a building in Jaramana, a suburb south of Damascus. Hezbollah confirmed Kuntar’s death, with the Assad regime initially blaming “terrorist groups” for the strike.

Also killed in the attack, according to pro-government websites, was Farhan al-Sha’alan, a leader of the Syrian Resistance in the Golan, a group affiliated with Hezbollah.

Kuntar was convicted by an Israeli court of killing a 4-year-old girl and her father after infiltrating from Lebanon by sea in a four-man cell. His release was highly controversial and sparked a three-week war with Israel.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV affirmed two warplanes from Israel entered Syrian airspace and fired four long-range missiles at the residential building in Jamara. A baby girl was accidentally smothered by her mother as she hid in a cupboard.

The deal with Hezbollah that led to Kuntar’s release stirred an anguished debate in Israel, especially after he received a hero’s welcome in Beirut that included a red carpet and praise from Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Kuntar was with a group of commanders from various groups that were reportedly planning attacks on Israel. Kantar was recognized by the United States and Israel as a terrorist who was profoundly implicated in the Syrian civil war. His footprints were “full of blood of victims”, she said in a call to reporters.

“Usually we don’t refer to such rumours or reports, but certainly Samir Kuntar is known to be a very brutal terrorist”.

“When I heard eight months ago that Samir Kuntar was active in Hezbollah in areas north of Israel, I started to worry that he might kill other families and children”, Smadar Haran Kaiser, the wife of the nuclear scientist murdered by Mr. Kuntar told journalists.

“The Israeli strike dented the new sense of security on the part of Mr. Assad’s supporters that came after Russian Federation began its direct military intervention in the conflict in late September, using its air power to shore up Mr. Assad and his Hezbollah allies”, noted The New York Times. Among the Hezbollah members was Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah operative assassinated in 2008 in Damascus.