Salim Jamil Ayyash (; 10 November 1963 – 9 November 2024) was a Lebanese militant and senior

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

military operative, who served as the head of its assassination squad

Unit 121 Unit 121 is Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah's covert assassination team reporting directly to the group's Secretary-General. The unit has allegedly conducted deadly car bombings targeting Lebanese military and political leaders and jou ...

. He is best known for his indictment by the

Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, was a tribunal of international character that was active between 2009 and 2023. It applied Lebanese criminal law under the authority of ...

as one of the major individuals involved in the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of the Lebanese Prime Minister

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed fi ...

. Following the publishing of his name by the investigation from the Tribunal, Ayyash went into hiding and never appeared in front of the Tribunal, and a second indictment was confirmed against him in another case on 15 May 2019 by the Tribunal. He was tried ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

''.

Rewards for Justice Program Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is United States Department of State's national security interagency program that offers reward for information leading to the location or an arrest of leaders of terrorist groups, financiers of terrorism, inclu ...

is offering $10 million for information on him. On 9 November 2024, he was killed by an Israeli air strike in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Biography

Born in Harouf,

Nabatieh Governorate Nabatieh Governorate (, ') is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon. The area of this governorate is 1,058 km2. The capital is Nabatieh. Districts The governorate is divided into four districts (Aqdiya, singular qadaa) containing 130 mu ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, Ayyash's parents were Jameel Dakheel Ayyash and Mahasen Issa Salameh. He lived in various locations in

Hadath Al-Ḥadath al-Ḥamrā' (Arabic for "Hadath the Red") or Adata () was a town and fortress near the Taurus Mountains (modern southeastern Turkey), which played an important role in the Byzantine–Arab Wars. Location The town was located at c ...

in the southern suburbs in

Nabatieh Nabatieh (, ', Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܠܢܒܛܝܥ), or Nabatîyé (), is a city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon. History Nabateans The most accepted theory is related to the Nabateans (spelled النبطي), an ancient Arab ...

in South Lebanon before disappearing. On 18 August 2020, he was found guilty of the assassination and the death of 21 other individuals in the incident that occurred in February 2005. He was found guilty on five charges including the intentional murder of Hariri with premeditation by using explosive materials. Three other indictees were acquitted due to lack of conclusive evidence including Hussein Oneissi, Assad Sabra and Hassan Merhi. Similar charges against a fourth principal indictee

Mustafa Badreddine use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Damascus International Airport, Syria , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_plac ...

were dropped after he died on 13 May 2016. Proceedings against him were terminated on 12 July 2016. Ayyash was sentenced by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in absentia on 11 December 2020. On 10 November 2024, reports claimed that Ayyash was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Al-Qusayr, Syria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayyash, Salim 1963 births 2024 deaths Hezbollah members Lebanese Shia Muslims People from Nabatieh Governorate Fugitives wanted by the United States

Biography

See also

References