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Lebanese Sources Accuse Mossad of Killing Hezbollah-Linked Money Changer

A picture of Mohammad Surur is circulating on social media
A picture of Mohammad Surur is circulating on social media
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Lebanese Sources Accuse Mossad of Killing Hezbollah-Linked Money Changer

A picture of Mohammad Surur is circulating on social media
A picture of Mohammad Surur is circulating on social media

Lebanese sources are accusing Israel’s Mossad of killing a Lebanese man associated with Hezbollah. He has been on the US sanctions list since 2019 for allegedly moving money from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to Hamas.
The victim, Mohammad Surur, was found dead in Beirut two days after he went missing. Investigators suspect Mossad’s involvement. Surur was lured to a rented villa by an unidentified woman.
The body of Surur was discovered Tuesday, murdered in the Mansourieh area in the Metn district north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
His body showed signs of torture before being shot.
Surur, who worked for Hezbollah-linked financial institutions, was shot multiple times while carrying a large sum of money.
A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the case is highly dangerous, and what has been revealed so far is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Asserting that it was “not a robbery,” the source revealed that the signs of torture on the victim’s body indicate he was subjected to interrogation before being killed.
Security agencies and forensic evidence teams have initiated investigations to uncover the circumstances of the crime following the forensic examination of the body.
A Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that preliminary forensic investigations revealed Surur was shot three times, but another forensic doctor was tasked due to conflicting information.
Forensic evidence teams are working to identify the type of weapon used and the exact time of death, the source affirmed.
Moreover, the source pointed out that the data suggests the crime was executed professionally by skilled individuals recruited through specific channels who meticulously monitored and tracked Surur.
Surur’s family is demanding the truth and accountability. They had lost contact with him a week before his death.
Lebanese MPs urged authorities to find the culprits. The US sanctioned Surur for allegedly transferring money from Iran to Hamas via Hezbollah.
US officials recently visited Beirut, urging Lebanon to stop money transfers to Hamas.

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Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
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Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)

Lebanon kicked off on Saturday the process of removing weapons in possession of Palestinian factions outside of their refugee camps.

The arms are mainly held by groups allied with the ousted Syrian regime that were based in several areas in the Bekaa, South, Beirut and the border with Syria.

The Lebanese army announced on Saturday that it had taken over three military positions that were affiliated with two Palestinian factions that were close to Bashar al-Assad's former regime.

Two of the positions are in the eastern and western Bekaa and belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. The third, in Rashaya, belonged to the Fatah al-Intifada group.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army intelligence has been working on this issue for some time now and was close to completely resolving it.

The army said it had seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, as well as military gear.

The removal of the weapons outside state control is part of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah and which calls for dismantling all non-licensed military facilities that manufacture weapons in Lebanon.

The agreement also calls for removing all unlicensed weapons starting from regions south of the Litani River.

A similar agreement for the removal of Palestinian weapons was reached in March 2006, but it was never implemented.

A Lebanese security source, however, said that the latest progress in removing the Palestinian weapons has nothing to do with the ceasefire. Rather, it is related to the collapse of Assad's regime.

These factions were loyal to the regime, and they received funding and equipment from it, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hisham Debsi, the Director of the Tatweer Center for Studies, said the positions the army has taken over are tied to factions that are affiliated with Syrian security agencies.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army should have been able to take over these locations as soon as United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 was issued in 2004.

The Palestinian Authority at the time agreed to the handover of weapons outside and inside refugee camps, but Hezbollah objected to the move and said it needed to be discussed at a dialogue among Lebanese political powers, Debsi went on to say.

At the dialogue, Hezbollah agreed to the removal of weapons inside and outside the camps, but it later thwarted the plan, he added.

The current removal of arms is tied to the implementation of resolution 1701 and others, notably 1559. It is also directly connected to the sudden and dramatic toppling of the Assad regime, he explained.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s interim rulers, had issued orders for Palestinian groups affiliated with the regime to lay down their arms. “These factions, which had raised the Palestinian flag and done nothing but harm the Palestinian and Lebanese people, no longer have their regional and Lebanese backers,” so they had no choice but to yield to the orders, Debsi said.

The conditions are ripe for the Lebanese state to impose its sovereignty, through the army, across all its territories and end the presence of any Palestinian armed groups outside the refugee camps, he stressed.

Moreover, the state has the right to impose its authority over the camps and remove the weapons there, he remarked.

At the moment, the removal of Palestinian weapons does not appear to be a precursor to Hezbollah laying down its weapons in areas north of the Litani.

Such a move demands a “major political decision that is off the table at the moment,” said the sources.