A number of rockets hit a building in the Damascus district of Jaramana causing several casualties, Syria's state media said early on Sunday. It blamed "terrorist groups."Author Hassan Hassan says he hears it is true:
However, government loyalists on social media said the explosions were an Israeli strike believed to have killed Lebanese militant Samir Kuntar, who is reviled in Israel for a 1979 attack that killed four people.
Israel released Kuntar in 2008 as part of a prisoner swap with the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group.
Some Syrian government loyalists said he was in the building at the time of the attack but his fate was unclear.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the reports.
Reliable reports Samir Kuntar was indeed killed in an Israeli attack in Jaramanah, in Damascus, earlier today.
— Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) December 20, 2015
His brother confirms it:
بعزة وإباء ننعي استشهاد القائد المجاهد #سمير_القنطار ولنا فخر انضمامنا الى قافلة عوائل الشهداء بعد ٣٠ عاما من الصبر في قافلة عوائل الاسرى
— Bassam Alkantar (@balkantar) December 20, 2015
RT does as well:
URGENT:Local media say Hezbollah leader #Kuntar's body found under rubble in Damascus #Syria https://t.co/imWHsvLfMr pic.twitter.com/j3UPxdy3X8
— RT (@RT_com) December 20, 2015
Kuntar was falsely rumored to have been killed before.
If true, Kuntar's death is way overdue. He is known for murdering Danny Haran in front of his daughter Einat and then smashing her head on a rock, killing her. He was released in a prisoner swap.
Mahmoud Abbas was very happy with Kuntar's release and went out if his way to meet Kuntar in Lebanon because child-murderers are heroes for the Palestinian cause.
May he rot in hell.
