Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar
سمير القنطار
Samir Kuntar while visiting Tomb of Hafez in Shiraz, Iran.
Born(1962-07-20)20 July 1962[1]
Aabey, Lebanon
Died19 December 2015(2015-12-19) (aged 53)
Jaramana, Syria
Cause of deathKilled by airstrike
NationalityLebanese
OccupationMilitant
Known for1979 Nahariya attack
MovementPalestine Liberation Front and Hezbollah
Criminal chargeMurder
Criminal penaltyFive life sentences
Military career
AllegianceHezbollah
Years of service1978–2015
Battles / warsSyria

Samir Kuntar (Arabic: سمير القنطار, also transcribed Sameer, Kantar, Quntar, Qantar; 20 July 1962 – 19 December 2015) was a Lebanese Druze member of the Palestine Liberation Front. In 1979, he took part in the Nahariya attack in Israel, for which an Israeli court would convict him of murder and terrorism.[2] Kantar denied the accusations and maintained his innocence.[2][3][4] He was eventually released as part of the 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange.

Samir Kuntar was born to a Druze family in Lebanon and joined Palestinian militants in Lebanon at a young age. In 1979, Kuntar and three other Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) militants snuck into Nahariya, Israel, by boat. Their goal was to capture Israelis and force Israel into a prisoner exchange, but the "raid went horribly wrong".[1] In the end, two Israeli police officers and two Israeli civilians were dead, as were two of the PLF members. Israeli authorities argued that the Kuntar had murdered the two Israeli civilians (a father and his 4-year old daughter). Kuntar maintained they had been killed by Israeli forces as they shot at him and the PLF militants.[1][5]

After Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah began to campaign for the release of all Lebanese citizens from Israel.[6] Israel's refusal to release Kuntar (and other Lebanese citizens) was cited as the justification for the 2006 Hezbollah cross-border raid, which lead to the 2006 Lebanon War. After the war, Kuntar was released from prison as part of the 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange. His arrival in Lebanon was greeted by crowds of tens of thousands of people, as well as Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Sinora.[7] He continued to be celebrated, receiving Syria's highest medal,[8] and later being honored by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[9] The US government designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.[10][11] According to some sources, Kuntar took part in the Syrian Civil War.[12]

On 19 December 2015, Kuntar was killed by an explosion in the outskirts of Damascus. According to official Syrian sources, Kuntar was killed by "terrorist rocket attack".[13] On 20 December 2015, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi described the incident as a terrorist operation "plotted beforehand", commenting that Syrian authorities were carrying out an investigation to find out how the operation happened.[13] Hezbollah claimed that the building was destroyed by an air-to-surface missile launched by Israeli Air Force jets.[14][15][16] On 21 December, the Free Syrian Army released a video clip claiming responsibility for killing Kuntar.[17][18]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Smith was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Octavia Nasr (July 16, 2008). "Brother of convicted Lebanese killer says he's innocent". CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference kotesbar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference haaretz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference sela was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Wahab, Hadi (2022). Hezbollah:A Regional Armed Non-State Actor. Taylor & Francis. p. 69.
  7. ^ "Prisoners' Homecoming a Triumph for Hezbollah".
  8. ^ "Assad awards convicted murderer Kuntar Syria's highest medal". Haaretz. November 24, 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  9. ^ Ahmadinejad to honor child killer Kuntar The Jerusalem Post January 30, 2009
  10. ^ "US Blacklists 4 Hamas, Hezbollah Operatives". NYTimes. September 8, 2015.
  11. ^ "Terrorist Designation of Samir Kuntar" 8 September 2015, United States Department of State
  12. ^ Melman, Yossi; Amir, Noam (June 24, 2015). "Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar blamed for inciting Druse violence on Golan Heights". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Barry Temmo (December 20, 2015). "Liberated prisoner from Israeli jails Samir Kuntar killed in terrorist shelling attack". SANA.
  14. ^ "Hezbollah: Samir Kuntar killed in Israeli airstrike on Damascus". Haaretz. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  15. ^ "Longest-serving Lebanese prisoner in Israel killed in Syria". The Big Story. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  16. ^ Roi Kais, Yoav Zitun, Liad Osmo, 'Hezbollah: Samir Kuntar, murderer of Haran family, killed in airstrike,' Ynet 20 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Free Syrian Army rebels claim Samir Kuntar assassination". i24news. December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  18. ^ "Free Syrian Army: Hezbollah is lying, we killed Kuntar, not Israel". Jerusalem Post. December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.