Hezbollah announced that several of its fighters were martyred on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on the Quneitra region in Syria.
Five Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, including a senior commander, have reportedly been killed in an Israeli airstrike near the occupied Golan Heights. The organization has promised retaliation, saying that Israel has crossed all lines with this attack.
Mohamad Issa - chief of Hezbollah operations in Syria - was among those killed in the convoy attack, along with Jihad Moughniyah - son of the late Hezbollah leader Imad Moughniyah - according to Al Arabiya. The attack occurred in Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Neither Israeli authorities nor the IDF have officially commented on the operation. However, a security source confirmed to Reuters on condition of anonymity that it was "an Israeli helicopter that carried out the attack." The helicopter fired rockets at the convoy, while two Israel reconnaissance planes were also reportedly seen flying over the area.
Another source claimed Israel's Ynet news that the strike targeted "terrorists who intended to attack Israel" close to the ceasefire line that separates the Syrian part of Golan Heights from the Israeli-occupied sector. No further details were provided.
According to a statement on Lebanon's Al-Manar news channel, the attack suggests that Israel "has gone crazy because of Hezbollah's growing capabilities and it could lead to a costly adventure that will put the Middle East at stake."
The attack follows Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's statement that frequent Israeli strikes in Syria are a major aggression against the whole ‘axis of resistance,' not just Damascus, and that the group has the right to retaliate.
A Lebanese security source told The Daily Star that the strike destroyed one Hezbollah vehicle entirely and damaged another.
The Tel Aviv regime has carried out several airstrikes in Syria since the start of the nearly four-year-old foreign-backed militancy there.
Damascus says Tel Aviv and its Western allies are aiding al-Qaeda-linked militant groups operating inside Syria.
The Syrian army has repeatedly seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the foreign-backed militants inside Syria.
The country has been grappling with a foreign-backed deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence has so far claimed the lives of nearly 200,000 people, according to the UN.
"Upon the martyrdom of a number of Hizbullah Resistance men due to "Israeli" helicopters' shelling in Quneitra[Syria], Hizbullah issued the following statement:
As a group of Hizbullah Resistance men were performing a field inspection to al-Amal farm in the Syrian Quneitra , they came under rocket fire from the "Israeli" enemy helicopters.
This led to the martyrdom of a number of Mujahideen brothers, whose names will be later announced after informing their noble families."
Names of the Martyrs:
Martyr commander Mohammed Ahmed Issa, "Abu Issa"
Born in Arabsalim 1972 / Married / 4 children
2 Martyr Jihad Imad Mughniyeh "Javad"
Born in Tyrdba 1989 / single
His father «Imad Mughniyeh» known by «Hajj Radwan» top commander of lebanese Hizbullah martyred on 12 February 2008 in Damascus blast.
3 Martyr Abbas Ibrahim Hijazi "Sayed Abbas"
Born in al-Gaziya 1979 / Married / 4 children
4 Martyr Mohammed Ali Hassan Abu Hassan "Kazim"
Born in Ain Qana 1985 / single
5 Martyr Ghazi Ali Zavi "Daniel"
Born in al Khiyam, 1988 / Married / 1 boy
6 Martyr Ali Hassan Ibrahim "Ihab"
Born in Yahmar al Shaqif, 1993 / single
source : www.abna.ir
