While Israel has not confirmed nor denied that it was behind the strike that killed Kuntar, Israeli politicians have welcomed the death of the man they described as a “brutal terrorist”.
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After shooting Danny Haran in the back, Kuntar grabbed his daughter Einat and smashed her head against a rock with a rifle butt until she died too. The two had been hiding in a closet and Haran Kaiser accidentally smothered Yael to stop Kantar from hearing her cries. Three rockets fired from Lebanon struck Israel Sunday, although it was unclear who fired them. At least eight others have been reported killed in the attack.
Kuntar was released by Israel in 2008 in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah after spending 30 years in prison. Later, he was also honored by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a ceremony for former “political prisoners” in Tehran.
Israel has previously said it would engage in the Syria conflict for two reasons only: to stop the transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to disrupt preparations for attacks on Israel.
Nasrallah rejected reports that Syrian opposition fighters were responsible for Kantar’s killing, saying that Israeli planes had “fired precision-guided missiles on a multi-story apartment building”.
Al Din says the assassination of Kuntar was a “stupid” act, warning that “only days separate us from the Israeli enemy”.
“In his seven years of freedom, Samir was involved in the resistance (against Israel) in Lebanon and when the first signs of resistance appeared on the occupied Golan front, he was one of the first to join up and Israel tried six times to kill him in Lebanon and Syria”, his brother Bassam said in an article published in Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. Jihad Mugniyeh was killed in one of these strikes.
According to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, two Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace and fired four long-range missiles at the residential building in Jaramana.
The IAF acted upon accurate intelligence and reportedly coordinated the action with the Russian central command in Syria.
Like Iron Dome and Arrow, David’s Sling has drawn interest from prospective foreign clients, especially as it is also billed as being capable of intercepting cruise missiles. But it is believed that he had become a commander in Hezbollah.
In this photo released Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian soldiers stand in front of a damaged building where Samir Kuntar was believed to be killed along with several others Saturday night in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, Syria.
At the same time, UNIFIL is not ready to comment on the suspects of southern Lebanon rocket fire that hit northern Israel.
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Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar vowed that the militant group will not allow Kantar’s blood to go “betrayed”.
