Salim Ayyash, linked to 2005 Hariri assassination, reportedly killed by 'Israel'

Salim Jamil Ayyash, a senior Hezbollah commander convicted for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was reportedly killed in an Israeli Occupation airstrike in Syria, according to "Israeli" media.

The strike, confirmed by Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya, is believed to have taken place near the Syrian city of Al-Qusayr, a region known to be a Hezbollah stronghold.

Ayyash, who had a USD 10 million bounty on his head from the US, was part of Hezbollah's Unit 151, a secretive assassination squad.

His role in Hariri’s assassination, which involved a suicide bombing in Beirut in 2005, led to a life sentence in absentia by a UN-backed tribunal in 2020. Ayyash was also reportedly linked to several other deadly attacks on Lebanese politicians during the same period.

Despite international efforts, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a separate Israeli Occupation strike in late September, consistently refused to hand over Ayyash and other suspects to the authorities.