Hezbollah-Affiliated Fighter Was Killed In Recent Israeli Strikes On Syria’s Damascus

An Israel Air Force F-15 flies overhead during an exercise in the Golan Heights on February 23, 2014. (Gu Ashash/Israel Air Force/Flickr)

A Syrian pro-government fighter was reportedly killed as a result of the October 27 Israeli airstrikes on the capital, Damascus.

The fighter was identified as Muhammad Saeed Rateb al-Tufaili. He was reportedly working with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Several posts mourning the fighter surfaced on Syrian pro-government accounts on Facebook and other social networks a few hours after the Israeli airstrikes.

Muhammad Saeed Rateb al-Tufaili. Via Facebook.

Al-Tufaili was reportedly killed near the Shiite town of Set Zaynab in the southern outskirts of Damascus, where Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are known to be present and active.

The target of the Israeli airstrikes on Damascus was reportedly an IRGC weapons shipment that was on its way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This was the third wave of Israeli airstrikes to hit Syria within a week. On October 21, a series of airstrikes hit al-Dimas airport and a nearby radar site in the western outskirts of Damascus. The attack resulted in material losses only. Later on October 24, several military positions near al-Dimas were struck again. A soldier was wounded as a result of the attack, which also resulted in material losses.

Israeli defense officials told The Jerusalem Post earlier this month that Israeli military attacks had destroyed about 90% of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria. The officials claimed that Iran can no longer transfer weapons to Syria, manufacture weapons on the country’s soil, or establish bases there with ease.

While Israel’s repeated attacks on Syria are achieving tactical success, they are yet to result in the strategic changes Tel Aviv hopes for. Damascus is today more committed to its allies in the “Axis of Resistance” than ever before.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC:

• Israel Escalates Attacks On Iranian Targets In Syria
• Lebanon, Israel Sign Historic Maritime Border Deal