Israeli military intelligence has identified a new Hezbollah commander on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, according to multiple Israeli media reports.
Munir Ali Naim Sha’iti, also known as Haj Hashem, is a father of four from southern Lebanon, but he spends most of his time these days in Syria, where he is the top commander of operations for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla organization.
According to sources in Israeli military intelligence, Sha’iti is believed to have been the former deputy chief of the Bader Brigades, a division of the Hezbollah terrorist group assigned to operations north of the Litani River in Lebanon more than a year ago.
Sha’iti was promoted to replace Samir Quntar, commander of the terrorist group’s operations in southern Syria and the Golan Heights, after he was assassinated more than a year ago.
Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Acharonot reported that Israeli security sources “exposing the details about Hashem was intended to clearly signal to him that he is marked by Israel … and that his end is likely to be similar to that of his predecessors.”
Intelligence sources said Sha’iti was behind a 2002 terror attack on a northern kibbutz that claimed the lives of six Israelis, and he is now taking his orders from Qassem Soleimani, head of the Qods Force that leads the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.