Samir Kuntar
| Samir Kuntar سمير القنطار |
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|---|---|
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| Born |
20 July 1962 Aabey, Lebanon |
| Died | 19 December 2015 (aged 53) Jaramana, Syria |
| Cause of death | Killed by explosion |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Occupation | Militant |
| Known for | 1979 Nahariya attack |
| Movement | Palestine Liberation Front and Hezbollah |
| Criminal charge | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Five life sentences |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Hezbollah |
| Years of service | 1978–2015 |
| Battles/wars |
Syria |
Syria
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 and Hezbollah. He was a famous terrorist who was convicted by an Israeli court. After his release from prison as part of the 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange, he received Syria's highest medal, honored by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US government.
In Israel, Kuntar is considered the perpetrator of one of the most brutal terrorist attacks in the country's history. On 22 April 1979, at the age of 16, Kuntar participated in the killing of an Israeli policeman and the attempted kidnapping of an Israeli family in Nahariya that resulted in the deaths of four Israelis and two of his fellow kidnappers.
Kuntar and his team broke into an apartment building and kidnapped a father, 31-year-old Danny Haran, and his 4-year-old daughter, Einat, taking them to a nearby beach. According to eyewitnesses and forensic reports, Kuntar shot Danny to death at close range, and then killed the girl Einat by smashing her skull against the rocks with the butt of his rifle. During the attack, Smadar Haran accidentally suffocated her two-year-old daughter Yael to death while attempting to quiet her whimpering, which would have revealed their hiding place.Newsweek states that the details of Kuntar's attack are "so sickening they give pause even to some of Israel's enemies."
After his release, Kuntar became a senior official in Hezbollah, a Lebanese Islamist militant group. According to Druze sources, Hezbollah put Kuntar in charge of the Quneitra Governorate during the Syrian Civil War, where he commanded attacks against Israeli targets. According to the US government, Kuntar played an operational role, with the assistance of Iran and Syria, in "building up Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in the Golan Heights".
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Wikipedia