Jerusalem – 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. Kantar was recognized by the United States and Israel as a terrorist who was profoundly implicated in the Syrian civil war.
Israel was accused by Hezbollah militant group from Lebanon and by the government of Syria for the attack that killed Samir Kantar and others. Hezbollah’s al-Manar media affirmed on early Sunday that four Israeli missiles had struck a residential building in Jaramana, Washington Post reported.
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. The media also displayed footage of a building that appeared to be destroyed.
In 2008, Kantar was released by Israel after being in jail for 30 years since he collaborated in the killing of Einat, a 4-year-old girl, her father, Danny Haran, and another Israeli in an attack on April 22, 1979. The release was done after an exchange for two bodies of Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah was accorded.
“When I heard eight months ago that Samir Kantar was active in Hezbollah in areas north of Israel, I started to worry that he might kill other families and children. I remember how brutal he was. I worried he might strike again,” Haran’s wife, Smadar Haran-Kaiser, said in a call to WSP.
Until now, officials from Israel have not denied or confirmed if the country was in charge of the attack. However, some Israeli leaders have announced the news of Kantar’s death. Isaac Herzog wrote the killing was historic justice since he was a terrorist who refused to abandon the path of murder and terror. He remarked the region was safer without him.
Yuval Steinitz, Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, said at the weekly cabinet meeting, he would not refer to reports and rumors about the elimination of Hezbollah operative Kantar, however if it was true he would not be sorry because he was a villain, he stressed. Then, he added that if something happened to him he thought that no civilized person could be sorry.
On Sunday, people who support Hezbollah said on social media that Mr. Kantar was a martyr who died for the Palestinian cause. On the other hand, several Israelis supported the strikes against Kantar while they remarked how fatal were his attacks.
Source: WSP