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Hezbollah Acknowledges Killing of Fighter in Israeli Strike near Damascus

Syrian air defenses respond to Israeli missiles targeting south of the capital Damascus. (AFP)
Syrian air defenses respond to Israeli missiles targeting south of the capital Damascus. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Acknowledges Killing of Fighter in Israeli Strike near Damascus

Syrian air defenses respond to Israeli missiles targeting south of the capital Damascus. (AFP)
Syrian air defenses respond to Israeli missiles targeting south of the capital Damascus. (AFP)

A Hezbollah fighter was killed in an Israeli attack in Syria, the Iranian-backed Lebanese party’s first declared casualty there since its leader warned last year that further killings of its members in Syria would face retaliation.

Ali Kamel Mohsen, from south Lebanon, was killed by an Israeli air strike near Damascus airport, according to a death notice declaring him a “martyr” with the “Resistance”, a reference to Hezbollah, and which was confirmed by the party.

It was an apparent reference to a strike on Monday night that Western intelligence sources said hit a major Iranian-backed ammunition depot on the edge of the Syrian capital.

Syrian state media said air defenses had intercepted a new Israeli “aggression” above the capital Damascus.

Hezbollah has deployed fighters in Syria as part of Iranian-backed efforts to support president Bashar Assad in a conflict that spiraled out of protests against his rule in 2011.

Following the killing of two Hezbollah members in Damascus last August, Hassan Nasrallah, the party’s leader, vowed it would respond if Israel killed any more of its fighters in the country.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.