The Israeli military announced today that it had killed a senior Hezbollah official, who was an intermediary with the Syrian army, in an airstrike in Damascus.
The Israeli air force carried out a strike in the Syrian capital, targeting the liaison officer, “Hezbollah’s representative to the Syrian army, Salman Nemer Jomaa,” describing him as an “executive” and a “key figure” of the Lebanese Islamist movement involved in weapons smuggling between Syria and Hezbollah, according to an Israeli army statement.
“As part of his duties, Jomaa was responsible for coordinating between Hezbollah operatives and the Syrian army, primarily supporting weapons smuggling between Syria and Hezbollah.”
At noon, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that an Israeli strike on a vehicle on the road to Damascus International Airport killed one person, according to an NGO.
“A car exploded after being targeted by an Israeli strike on the road to the airport,” SANA reported, citing the police.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an Israeli drone targeted the vehicle. “One person in the car was killed, and another was injured,” it said, without being able to identify them.
The attack took place near a military airport, said the Observatory, which is based in Britain and has a vast network of sources in Syria.
Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria against Assad’s forces and pro-Iranian allies.
Today’s Israeli attack comes after Israel and Hezbollah accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement in place in Lebanon since November 27, following two months of fighting.
As soon as the ceasefire was announced, Israel stated it maintained “full freedom of military action in Lebanon” if Hezbollah “violated” the truce or “attempted to rearm.”
Hezbollah opened a “support front” for Hamas after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against southern Israel, which triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
