The Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group says Samir Qantar was killed in an Israeli air strike in Syria.
Lebanese militant Samir Qantar has been killed in an Israeli air strike near the Syrian capital Damascus, according to the Shi’ite Hezbollah group he was part of.
Hezbollah said Kantar, known in Lebanon as “The Dean of Lebanese Prisoners” for having spent nearly three decades in an Israeli prison, was killed in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana on Saturday night (December 19).
Blasts hit Damascus #Syria area building, Lebanese militant Samir Qantar believed killed https://t.co/NlVXBSxm5E
— louis charbonneau (@lou_reuters) December 20, 2015
Qantar had been a notorious foe of Israel since a 1979 attack that killed four people.
Israel released him in 2008 as part of a prisoner swap with Hezbollah and he is believed to have become a senior figure in the group, which has close ties with Iran.