One of the leaders of the terrorist group Hezbollah, Samir Kuntar, was killed today in Damascus. Hezbollah says that Kuntar died in an air attack by Israeli planes. The terrorists say that the Israeli jets flew into Syrian airspace and launched long range missiles that hit the building where Kuntar was living.
Kuntar is certainly dead, but there is no way to know if he was killed by an Israeli attack. He could just as easily have died in an attack by anti-Assad rebels. For Hezbollah, it is preferable to blame the Israelis for the attack because it does not demonstrate the failure of Assad and Hezbollah to stop the rebels. Hezbollah joined the Assad forces along with Iran some years back. Since that fight began, thousands of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon have died and many of the terror group's senior leaders have been lost. The high toll of dead and wounded has undermined some of the support for Hezbollah in its home base of Lebanon.
Kuntar certainly was no friend of the Israelis. He was in an Israeli prison for 30 years after he undertook a terror attack in 1979 with a group from Lebanon. At the time, Kuntar killed a policeman and then took a man and his small daughter hostage, ultimately shooting the man and smashing the little girl's skull with the butt of his rifle. He gained his freedom in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah a few years ago. After than, Kuntar quickly moved to become a leader in Hezbollah.
Israel is following its normal policy that it will not confirm or deny involvement in the attack. Sadly, the most likely confirmation that Israel was involved rather than being a convenient way for Hezbollah to cover up yet another loss on the battlefield to the rebels would be if Hezbollah launches some sort of retaliatory strike.
No matter who carried out the attack that killed Kuntar, one thing is certain. A vile terrorist is gone. It's a victory for the world.
Kuntar is certainly dead, but there is no way to know if he was killed by an Israeli attack. He could just as easily have died in an attack by anti-Assad rebels. For Hezbollah, it is preferable to blame the Israelis for the attack because it does not demonstrate the failure of Assad and Hezbollah to stop the rebels. Hezbollah joined the Assad forces along with Iran some years back. Since that fight began, thousands of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon have died and many of the terror group's senior leaders have been lost. The high toll of dead and wounded has undermined some of the support for Hezbollah in its home base of Lebanon.
Kuntar certainly was no friend of the Israelis. He was in an Israeli prison for 30 years after he undertook a terror attack in 1979 with a group from Lebanon. At the time, Kuntar killed a policeman and then took a man and his small daughter hostage, ultimately shooting the man and smashing the little girl's skull with the butt of his rifle. He gained his freedom in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah a few years ago. After than, Kuntar quickly moved to become a leader in Hezbollah.
Israel is following its normal policy that it will not confirm or deny involvement in the attack. Sadly, the most likely confirmation that Israel was involved rather than being a convenient way for Hezbollah to cover up yet another loss on the battlefield to the rebels would be if Hezbollah launches some sort of retaliatory strike.
No matter who carried out the attack that killed Kuntar, one thing is certain. A vile terrorist is gone. It's a victory for the world.
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