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Israeli Strike Near Damascus Kills Hezbollah Liaison with Syrian Army

An aerial view shows the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway and the city of Khan Sheikhoun after it was captured by Syrian opposition fighters in the Idlib countryside, Syria, 03 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view shows the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway and the city of Khan Sheikhoun after it was captured by Syrian opposition fighters in the Idlib countryside, Syria, 03 December 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Strike Near Damascus Kills Hezbollah Liaison with Syrian Army

An aerial view shows the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway and the city of Khan Sheikhoun after it was captured by Syrian opposition fighters in the Idlib countryside, Syria, 03 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view shows the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway and the city of Khan Sheikhoun after it was captured by Syrian opposition fighters in the Idlib countryside, Syria, 03 December 2024. (EPA)

An Israeli airstrike on a car near Syria's capital Damascus on Tuesday killed Salman Jumaa, a senior Hezbollah figure responsible for liaising with the Syrian army, a Lebanese security source told Reuters.

Syria's state news agency had reported the strike on the airport road but did not offer details on casualties.

The Israeli military confirmed in a later statement taking out Jumaa in what it called an intelligence-based strike in Damascus, saying his killing "degrades both Hezbollah’s presence in Syria and Hezbollah’s ongoing force-building efforts".

Israel rarely acknowledges its strikes in Syria, where it has carried out a years-long air campaign against Iranian military assets and those of its allies, including Hezbollah.

In a rare announcement last month, it said it struck Hezbollah intelligence assets near Damascus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week that he was "playing with fire" by allowing Iran to transfer weapons to its allies via Syria.

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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
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Israel Sees More to Do on Lebanon Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A car drives past damaged buildings in Naqoura, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Hankir/File Photo

Israel said on Thursday the terms of a ceasefire with Hezbollah were not being implemented fast enough and there was more work to do, while the Iran-backed group urged pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave south Lebanon by Monday as set out in the deal.

The deal stipulates that Israeli troops withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah remove fighters and weapons from the area and Lebanese troops deploy there - all within a 60-day timeframe which will conclude on Monday at 4 a.m (0200 GMT).

The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities triggered by the Gaza war. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.

"There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement," Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

"We've also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do," he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.

Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after Monday's deadline.

Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks talking about Israel postponing its withdrawal beyond the 60-day period, and that any breach of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that possibility required everyone, especially Lebanese political powers, to pile pressure on the states which sponsored the deal to ensure "the implementation of the full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly.”

Any delay beyond the 60 days would mark a blatant violation of the deal with which the Lebanese state would have to deal "through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters" to recover Lebanese land "from the occupation's clutches," Hezbollah said.