Lebanon: Syrian Minors Arrested in Assassination Case of Key ‘Qassam’ Figure

The Palestinian factions and Islamic forces in the Tyre region in Lebanon announced on Friday the arrest of a group of Israeli agents it said were involved in the assassination of a member of the Qassam Brigades earlier this month, and handing them over to the relevant Lebanese authorities.
It is a first for the factions to make such an announcement since the outbreak of clashes between the Hezbollah group and Israel in southern Lebanon, following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation in Gaza and Israel’s focus on assassinating members and officials of Hamas and Hezbollah.
In its statement, the factions said: "After the cowardly assassination of Qassam Brigades member Hadi Mustafa (Abu Shadi), carried out by the Zionist enemy on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the leadership of the factions and Islamic forces conducted thorough field monitoring and surveillance operations, during which investigations revealed the involvement of a group of infiltrators in our camp in the assassination operation”.
“They have been handed over to the relevant security authorities in the Lebanese state”, it added.
Two Individuals in Army’s Custody
The Palestinian factions have handed two Syrian minors to the Lebanese army intelligence, according to Lebanese security sources. They are being interrogated for their involvement in the assassination of Hadi Mustafa.
A source told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity that the detainees planted a tracking device in the vehicle of a member of the Qassam Brigades, facilitating his assassination with an Israeli drone.
A Lebanese judicial source also confirmed the arrest of two individuals suspected of involvement in the assassination of Mustafa. “The army intelligence is conducting an investigation with two Syrian minors based on information linking them to this assassination”, he told Asharq AlAwsat.
Hamas: Arresting the Operator
A source in the Hamas group told Asharq Al-Awsat that a third person, the operator of the Syrian minors, was arrested in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp. According to information, each of the detainees received the sum of approximately 11 US dollars in exchange for planting the tracking device.
The Israeli army had said that Mustafa was a "central figure" in Hamas in Lebanon and that he was "promoting terrorist activities against Israeli targets worldwide, and was involved in directing sabotage cells and field activities to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in various countries around the world."
Record Full of Assassinations
One of the most notable assassinations attributed to Israeli operatives is the killing of Hamas leader and head of its political office, Saleh al-Arouri, in an Israeli raid targeting a building in the southern suburb of Beirut, the stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Additionally, the assassination of the son of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc leader, MP Mohammed Raad, occurred during a raid targeting a residence in southern Lebanon while he was inside with several party members.
Furthermore, the assassination of Wissam al-Taweel, a commander in the Al-Ridwan Force affiliated with Hezbollah, took place in a bombing targeting his car in southern Lebanon.
According to Dr. Riad Kahwaji, the CEO of the Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), "In wars, armies always seek to strengthen their intelligence capabilities against the targeted party, which is why Israel always resorts to enhancing human intelligence and recruiting agents for it is not a new matter."
“The repeated successes in targeting leaders, whether from Hezbollah or Hamas and knowing their movement methods and times, as well as identifying weapon storage locations, require advanced intelligence work through agents present on the ground.
“It appears that the Israeli side has succeeded in recruiting a large number of these agents, enabling it to achieve the desired hits”, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers were behind an attack in which several cars were torched overnight just a few kilometers (miles) away from the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

No one was wounded in the attack overnight into Monday in Al-Bireh, a city adjacent to Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered. An Associated Press reporter counted 18 burned-out cars.

Settler attacks on Palestinians and their property have surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.

But attacks in and around Ramallah, home to senior Palestinian officials and international missions, are rare.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers population centers in the territory, condemned the attack. Israeli police, who handle law enforcement matters involving settlers in the West Bank, said they were investigating.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy over less than half of the territory.

Over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship live in scores of settlements across the West Bank, which most of the international community considers illegal.

Lebanon: Syrian Minors Arrested in Assassination Case of Key ‘Qassam’ Figure