Kantar and the released prisoners received a celebratory welcome in Lebanon in 2008. Gen. (res.) Eyal Ben-Reuven praised the report, saying “IDF officials, Intelligence, the Air Force and others should be commended…”
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“I hope that this gets the message across that whoever murders Jews in Israel and in the world will end up like Samir Kuntar and the Munich murderers [of Israeli athletes]”, Haran added.
An Israeli cabinet minister welcomed on Sunday the killing of Lebanese militant leader Samir Qantar in an overnight strike in Syria but stopped short of confirming allegations Israel was responsible. The Israeli military declined to comment on the accusation.
Kantar, who had earned the title of longest-serving Arab prisoner in Israel, was still a teenager when he and three other members of the Palestine Liberation Front infiltrated the Israeli village of Nahariya by sea from Lebanon. They brought the pair back to the beach and killed them.
Mr. Kantar and four Hezbollah guerrillas were freed in 2008 in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah in 2006, which sparked a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.
After his release, Kuntar kept a low public profile. Qantar joined the group since then and is believed to had become a senior figure in the group.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said two Israeli warplanes that violated Syrian airspace fired four long-range missiles at the residential building in Jaramana Saturday night.
The air raid is said to have taken place late Saturday.
“With pride we mourn the martyrdom of the leader Samir Quntar and we are honored to join families of martyrs”, Bassam Quntar said on his Facebook page.
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Although Syrian media reports blamed “terrorist groups” for the attack on Sunday, government loyalists on social media said the explosions were an Israeli strike.
