Aug 6, 2018

It happened in the Syrian city of Hama. When Aziz Asber climbed into his car sometime during the night between Aug. 4 and Aug. 5, he had no idea that it would be the last time. The headrest of his seat exploded with an earsplitting blast, killing Asber and his driver instantly. When the smoke cleared, it was discovered that Asber was the head of Department 4 of the Syrian Scientific Research Center, an institute spearheading the Bashar al-Assad regime’s development of nonconventional weapons. Its labs in the town of Masyaf in Hama province had been bombed on numerous occasions over the past two years and sustained major damage. These bombings were attributed to Israel and its alleged decision to destroy the joint Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah “Precision Project.” The goal of this project was to install a “kit” on Syrian and Hezbollah missiles, improving their precision considerably and thereby posing a strategic threat to Israel’s military superiority.

It now looks like Israel had decided to take matters up a notch. Sources in the Syrian regime have already blamed Asber’s assassination on the Israeli Mossad. While Israel has maintained its silence, it would be hard to find anyone in the Middle East who did not get the hint. From now on, not only are the weapons facilities in danger, but the scientists working there are as well. According to several publications in the West, the Mossad’s policy is now to deter anyone involved in the development of nonconventional weapons or any other weapons, for that matter, that might pose a threat to Israel. From now on, they bear sole responsibility for whatever happens to them.

Asber was a scientist who worked covertly and kept a low profile. His killing is reminiscent of similar incidents that happened a decade ago, such as the assassination of Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in February 2008 and of Syrian Gen. Mohammed Suleiman at his vacation villa in the town of Tartus in August of that year. While Israel has said nothing about those attacks, various publications in the West have placed responsibility on it, and especially on late Mossad chief Meir Dagan.

To this day, the killing of Mughniyeh is considered one of the Mossad’s boldest and most resounding attacks. The Hezbollah chief of staff lived his life under a thick veil of secrecy. There were hardly any pictures of him, and no one actually knew where he was at any given moment. Mughniyeh slept in a different bed every night. He never remained in the same place for longer than two days, and he was fully aware that he was in the crosshairs of both Israel and the United States. The very fact that someone actually knew exactly where to find him in downtown Damascus that late at night and was able to install an explosive device in his car left the central Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood in a state of shock. It’s probably worth noting that Mughniyeh also was killed when the headrest in his car blew up.

The story of Suleiman’s assassination is even more intriguing. He was killed one year after the destruction of Syria’s nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor in 2007. An American investigation into the killing, which was released by whistleblower Edward Snowden, attributes the attack to Israel’s naval commando unit. Suleiman was the person closest to Assad. He was Assad’s confidante, responsible for Syria’s nuclear project. If he was, in fact, killed by Israel, it signaled that Israel would not make do with destroying facilities that manufacture nuclear weapons, but would also call to account anyone responsible for establishing and developing those facilities.