This picture shows accommodations housing Lebanese fleeing the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in al-Harjalah, south of the Syrian capital Damascus, on October 15, 2024. Agence France-Presse
JERUSALEM — The Israeli army said Monday that the latest commander responsible for funding the Lebanese Hezbollah group was “eliminated” in Syria.
The man, whose name was not released, headed the Iran-backed Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 that is “responsible for the transfers and the amount of funds” to the group through Tehran’s oil sales, army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
The commander was “eliminated” in Syria “a few hours ago”, he added.
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The unit was previously led by Mohammed Jafar Ksir, also known as Sheikh Salah, Hagari said.
“He managed the terrorist organisation’s main source of income for years, until we eliminated him in a targeted attack on the capital (Beirut) in early October,” he said.
Earlier Monday, Syria’s defence ministry announced the death of two people in a strike attributed to Israel and targeting a car in Damascus.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a strike targeted a non-Syrian man who was driving his car in a neighborhood where a memorial was being held for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israel last week in Gaza.
Unit 4400 is charged with transporting Iranian oil to Syria, which is then sold in Lebanon.
Its value “is about tens of millions of dollars”, Hagari said.
Hamas ally Hezbollah has been firing rockets daily into northern Israel in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement since the war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel, which has been conducting a ground offensive for nearly a month to push Hezbollah from its northern border, has in recent days ramped up its drive to hit the Iranian-backed group’s finances.