On Monday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement denied Israeli reports about targeting the movement’s Secretary-General, Ziad al-Nakhalah, with an explosion in the Mezzeh neighborhood in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The movement said, in a statement, a copy of which was received by Erem News, that it “categorically, completely and completely denies the news reported by some enemy media about the assassination of the Secretary-General, Commander Ziad al-Nakhalah, by targeting a car in Damascus on Monday evening.”
Earlier, the Syrian News Agency (SANA) said, “Israel launched an air attack targeting a civilian car in the Mezzeh residential neighborhood in Damascus, which led to the death of two civilians, the injury of three others, and the occurrence of material damage to private property in the surrounding area.”
Video clips on social media showed a completely burned car at the site of the explosion, and firefighters tried to put out the fire that broke out in it, while a hotel next to the car was damaged.
Al-Nakhal moves between Syria and Iran, unlike Hamas leaders who chose to be present in Türkiye and Qatar.
Israel has previously tried to target prominent leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement in Syria.
Among the most prominent assassination attempts were those that took place in Damascus, in November 2019, and targeted Akram Al-Ajouri, Al-Nakhalah’s deputy and head of the movement’s military department, who is responsible for supplying its military wing, the “Jerusalem Brigades.”
It is believed that Israel tried to target him again during the ongoing war in Gaza since October 7 last year.
Since the expansion of the war in Lebanon, at the end of last September, Israel has intensified its raids on Syria, killing 4 Hezbollah officials, including the son-in-law of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah who was assassinated by Israel, Hassan Nasrallah.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.eremnews.com