The Israeli military confirmed on Tuesday that its forces had killed Salman Jumaa, a senior Hezbollah figure responsible for liaising with the Syrian army, in Damascus.
Syria's state news agency had reported the strike on the airport road but did not offer details on casualties © Mena Today
An Israeli airstrike on a car near Syria's capital Damascus on Tuesday killed Salman Jumaa, a senior Hezbollah figure responsible for liaising with the Syrian army, a Lebanese security source told Reuters.
Syria's state news agency had reported the strike on the airport road but did not offer details on casualties.
The Israeli military confirmed in a later statement taking out Jumaa in what it called an intelligence-based strike in Damascus, saying his killing "degrades both Hezbollah’s presence in Syria and Hezbollah’s ongoing force-building efforts".
Israel rarely acknowledges its strikes in Syria, where it has carried out a years-long air campaign against Iranian military assets and those of its allies, including Hezbollah.
In a rare announcement last month, it said it struck Hezbollah intelligence assets near Damascus.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he was "playing with fire" by allowing Iran to transfer weapons to its allies via Syria.
Reporting by Jaidaa Taha
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades on Tuesday and both sides said they held positive discussions although it was not immediately clear if they agreed to a framework for peace.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has signaled his country's desire for full normalization with Lebanon, just ahead of a key round of peace talks scheduled in Washington.
Israeli and Lebanese envoys will meet for U.S.-mediated talks in Washington on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to calm weeks of Israeli fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has threatened to derail a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
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