The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on August 28 that it carried out a drone strike in Syria, targeting a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
The strike on the Syrian side of the Beirut-Damascus highway, close to the town of Zabadani, claimed the life of the commander, Firas Qasem, the military said in a statement, alleging that the commander was a prominent member of the PIJ’s operations unit.
“Qasem was tasked with building operational plans for the PIJ terror organization in Syria and Lebanon, and played a central role in recruiting Palestinian terrorists into the Hezbollah terror organization, for the purpose of carrying out terror operations from Lebanon against the State of Israel,” the IDF added.
The IDF went on to claim Hezbollah, with Iranian funding, has been recruiting Palestinians into its ranks to attack Israel for the last few years.
Two unnamed security sources told Reuters that two more PIJ fighters were killed in the drone strike, along with a fighter from Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The four slain fighters were driving from Syria to Lebanon to carry out operations on behalf of Hezbollah, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah later mourned its fighter Muhammad Taha later in the day. The PIJ also announced the deaths of Qasem and two other fighters, named as Osama Areesha and Hussam Areesha.
