Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel was behind a strike near Damascus that killed Hezbollah’s liaison with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), Salman Jumaa, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on December 3.
In a statement, the military said that Jumaa was a “key” figure in the relationship between the SAA and Hezbollah, enabling weapons to be transferred to the terror group in Lebanon via Syria.
“The Syrian regime supports Hezbollah and allows the organization to exploit it for the transfer of weapons to Lebanon,” the military said.
The IDF added that Jumaa, as part of his role as Hezbollah’s liaison with the SAA, “assisted in the transfer of weapons from the Syrians to Hezbollah,” including during the recent conflict. Jumaa was also “in close contact” with senior Syrian government officials, the military continued.
A veteran Hezbollah operative, the IDF said that Jumaa held various positions in the group including in Syria. He previously was the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence in the Khiam area of southern Lebanon, and later head of operations in Damascus. In recent years he was appointed as the liaison with the SAA.
The IDF said that “his elimination was a blow” to Hezbollah’s entrenchment in Syria and the group’s ability to rearm through the country.
The assassination of Jumaa came just a day after the IDF and Hezbollah exchanged strikes for the first time since the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, brokered by the United States, came into effect on November 27 over accusations of violations.
It also came amid a large-scale offensive by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and its allies against the SAA in northwestern Syria. The offensive began right after the ceasefire in Lebanon came into effect.
Israel was accused of backing the offensive, which saw militants capturing some 800 square kilometers including Aleppo city. While the country’s role in the offensive remains unclear, there is no doubt that it is the main beneficiary from the chaos in Syria.
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mossad has more agents in saa than in tel aviv.
sooooo what happened to the ceasefire?
what was all the fighting in syria for, if putin allows it to be an idf free-fire zone? russia will not survive if the jews have this much control in the country. jews are not going to leave russia alone, ever.
if you look into it, you may find this ‘kremlin’ is stacked with (( them )). putin anyone?carpetbagging hook nosed oligarchs and a compromised government, a status quo which isn’t going to change readily.