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His death, which Lebanese news outlets said had been announced by Hezbollah, is further proof the radical Shiite group is suffering mounting losses in Syria, where it has deployed hundreds of fighters to prop up a neighboor and key ally.

Described by his family in Toronto as religious and devout, Ayoub was a longtime Hezbollah operative and former member of an elite unit headed by the late terrorist Imad Mugniyah. “I came here by God’s order,” he testified after he was captured in Israel more than a decade ago.

“My point of view on the world is that I protect the oppressed,” he continued in his testimony. “I want to save the people from oppression.” Asked by an Israeli judge which oppressed people he wanted to save, he replied, “The Muslims are oppressed.”

Born in Beirut, he fought with the Amal militia during the Lebanese civil war and later joined Hezbollah, which sent him to Romania to hijack an Iraqi passenger plane. Hezbollah wanted to use the plane to barter for the release of Shiite clerics who were being held in Baghdad.

Although Ayoub was arrested by Romanian authorities before the attack, his partner evaded capture and downed the jet in the Saudi desert, killing more than 60 people. Months later, Hezbollah secured Ayoub’s release by bribing Romanian officials and he came to Canada in 1988.

“Did you tell the Canadians that you were involved in Romania?” an Israeli judge asked him at his trial, according to a transcript of the proceedings obtained by the National Post.