An Iraqi Hezbollah leader was assassinated in an Israeli strike targeting him near the Sayyid Zaynab area on the Damascus road in Syria, today, Friday, according to reports.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the assassination of "a leader in the Iraqi Hezbollah, and the injury of his companion, as a result of a drone targeting, likely Israeli, his car, which he was riding in on the road to Damascus International Airport."

The director of the observatory said, "The car belongs to a leader in the Iraqi Hezbollah called Abu Haidar (Al-Khafaji), and it is certain that the car was targeted by an Israeli drone near the Sayyida Zeinab area."

He stated that "the car was seen burning at around 5:00 a.m., while ambulances headed to the location of the car, which was a few kilometers away from the Sayyida Zeinab area."

The observatory pointed out that "the leader owns a military headquarters and a rest house in the area, and it is not known whether he left the headquarters towards the rest house, or was heading somewhere else."

"Precise assassination"

The Observatory stated that "he did not hear the sound of huge explosions like those caused by warplane raids, which means that he was targeted with a precision missile that targeted his car in a precise assassination operation."

The Observatory's report pointed out that "the area where the attack took place contains many military headquarters for the Iraqi, Lebanese and Syrian Hezbollah, in addition to the Iranian militias, and they control several farms in the area, and witness movement by elements and leaders, away from the eyes of the security services affiliated with the (Syrian) regime."

Syria targeted 67 times since the beginning of the year

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has counted, since the beginning of this year, "67 times during which Israel targeted Syrian territory, 50 of which were air strikes and 17 ground strikes," stressing that "these strikes resulted in the injury and destruction of about 142 targets, including weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters and centers, and vehicles."

He added that "these strikes resulted in the death of 211 soldiers, in addition to wounding 144 others with varying degrees of injury," noting that the dead were: 24 Iranians from the Revolutionary Guard, 43 from the Lebanese Hezbollah, 19 Iraqis, 59 from the Iranian-backed militias of Syrian nationality, 17 from the Iranian-backed militias of non-Syrian nationality, 46 from the regime forces, and 3 unidentified individuals."

"In addition to the death of 23 civilians, including a girl and 4 women, in the Israeli attacks, and the injury of about 36 of them, as well as the killing of the businessman close to Iran, Baraa Qaterji, and his cousin," according to the report.

According to the observatory, "the targets were distributed as follows: 25 in Damascus and its countryside, 16 in Daraa, 10 in Homs, 8 in Quneitra, 3 in Tartous, 1 in Deir Ezzor, 2 in Aleppo, and 4 in Hama."

The Syrian Observatory pointed out that "Israel may target more than one (Syrian) province at a time, which explains the discrepancy in the number of times and the number of targets."