The Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar Television reports anti-government rebel forces in Syria worked with Israel, assisting in locating Samir Kuntar, who was among the terrorists killed in an aerial attack in Syria attributed to the Israel Air Force by the international media.

At least four missiles were fired at the building targeted in the Druse area of Syria. Hizbullah has official confirmed that Kuntar has been eliminated along with two other senior Hezbollah commanders.

Analysts explain that Kuntar was not targeted because of the 1979 attack in Nahariya but because of the new position he accepted, developing a new front against Israel, in the Syrian Golan Heights as that country’s civil war continues. They explain as a rule, Israel will not target a terrorist released in a prisoner exchange as was the case with Kuntar, who was released in a 2008 deal in which Israel received the remains of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser HY”D and Eldad Regev HY”D.

While there are concerns of a Hezbollah retaliatory attack, this latest attack attributed to Israel is added to a growing list of targeted hits, including the February 2008 elimination of senior Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh. http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/281576/will-hizbullah-retaliate-for-deadly-israeli-strike.html Some analysts explain this latest attack was clearly carried out by Israel as a preventative measure to maintain quiet along its northern border with Syria. It is added that Israel was in contact with Russia ahead of this attack and that Moscow was fully aware of what was going to occur before the attack took place.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)