Syrian airstrike kills Lebanese militant Samir Kuntar

Samir Kantar, a well-known militant leader from Lebanon, was killed on Saturday in an airstrike in the suburbs of Damascus, which is the capital and the second largest city of Syria.

Israel released Qantar, a Druze, in 2008 as part of a prisoner swap with Hezbollah and he is believed to have joined the group since.

The building in which Kuntar was believed to have been residing was “completely destroyed” in the attack, according to initial reports. The Assad regime also blamed “terrorist groups” for the strike. Nevertheless Hezbollah did not immediately confirm or announce Kuntar being killed or injured in the bombing, only to accuse Israel later on Sunday.

“If something happened to him I think that no civilized person can be sorry”. Although Hizbullah is accusing the Israeli air force of carrying out the strike, Jerusalem, consistent with its policy regarding such actions, has not commented.

Kantar was sentenced to five life terms plus 47 years for murdering the father and daughter, as well as an Israeli policeman.

The IDF attacked targets in southern Lebanon with artillery fire on Sunday evening in response to earlier rocket fire from the country on Israeli communities in the western Galilee. The Golan Heights are only about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Damascus. That raises the question of whether the Russians would have been informed by Israel about the operation to assassinate Kantar. In late July, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the Israeli Air Force struck a vehicle in which Kuntar was riding. NNA added that United Nations peacekeepers have intensified their patrols in the border areas.

The militant Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah also confirmed his death. In 1979 Kuntar and three Palestine Liberation Front operatives shot 31 year old Danny Haranin the back of the head in front of his four year old daughter after which he smashed the little girl’s head into the rocks and used his rifle butt to crush her skull. He denies this, saying the girl was killed in the crossfire.

Her two-year old sister died when the mother, hiding in a crawl space, accidentally smothered her while trying to prevent her cries from being heard.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked told army radio that Israel “has not claimed” the strike but “was happy to learn the news”.

On the other side, Israelis have expressed relief over the news.

The commander, Samir Kuntar, was freed as part of an exchange that returned the bodies of two soldiers to Israel.

Kuntar was regarded as a national hero in Lebanon. Following his release, Kuntar took up a senior position in Hezbollah and helped to organize Syrian Druze and other terror cells along the Golan Heights to carry out attacks against Israel.

In February 2008, top Hezbollah official Imad Moughnieh, wanted by Interpol over the auto bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, was killed in Damascus.

Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV said Kantar had been living in the targeted building for a year.

“We condemn the Israeli assassination of Samir Kuntar”, Hamas posted on its Twitter account.

The army will “continue to act against any attempt to harm Israel’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens”, the officials said in a statement.