BICOM

The son of a notorious Hezbollah military commander was among at least six Hezbollah operatives killed yesterday by an air strike on the Syrian Golan Heights as they reportedly planned a deadly attack on Israel.

AFP reported that six people were killed when a helicopter opened fire on two vehicles in the Quneitra region, near the Israeli border. Although Israel’s military did not comment, the operation is thought to have been an Israeli strike. Hezbollah later confirmed that among those killed were a commander known as Abu Issa and a district commander, Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of the late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in 2008 and was thought to have been behind numerous terror attacks abroad. Hezbollah has long vowed revenge for Imad Mughniyeh’s killing.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported that, “A group of Hezbollah mujahedeen were martyred in a Zionist rocket attack in Quneitra.” Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Tabnak news site reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards were among at least ten killed in the attack. Iran has long funded and trained Hezbollah and is also a staunch supporter of Syria’s President Assad.

Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon commented, “If Hezbollah is claiming their people were injured or killed in Syria, then they should explain what their people were doing in Syria.” Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria on behalf of President Assad in the country’s civil war. Although Israel’s border with Lebanon has been largely quiet since the month-long 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah has previously targeted Israeli forces along the Syrian border. Israeli media reports say that the Hezbollah squad targeted yesterday was planning rocket attacks, cross-border infiltrations, border bombings and anti-tank fire.

Last week, in a rare public appearance on Lebanese television, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that his organisation possesses weapons which Israel “could not even imagine.” He claimed that Hezbollah is ready to “conquer the [northern Israeli region] Galilee.” However, he also admitted that Israel had infiltrated Hezbollah at a high level.