Date 18 January 2015 | Location Quneitra District | |
Planned by attributed to Israel
claimed by Al-Nusra Front Objective To destroy a Hezbollah field unit Executed by attributed to IAF
claimed by Al-Nusra Front Outcome Hezbollah group and accompanying Iranian general killed Casualties Six Hezbollah fighters killed, including Jihad Mughniyah and field commander Mohamad Issa
Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi Result Hezbollah group and accompanying Iranian general killed Similar December 2014 Rif Dimashq, Operation Canopus Star, Russo‑Turkish confrontation in Syria, Operation Martyr Muath, Daraa offensive | ||
The January 2015 Mazraat Amal incident was an airstrike against a two-car convoy that killed six Hezbollah fighters, including two prominent members, and a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, at al-Amal Farms (Mazraat Amal) in the Quneitra District of Syria, in the Golan Heights, on 18 January 2015, during the Syrian Civil War. The attack was largely attributed to Israel, which did not officially confirm that it carried it out. Hezbollah and IRGC held Israel responsible and threatened to retaliate. Amid official silence, a flurry of statements from anonymous Israeli officials have made contradictory claims. One said Israel had been unaware that an Iranian general was in the convoy. Another anonymous senior Israeli security source said Israel believed it was attacking only low-ranking Hezbollah militants planning an attack on Israelis at the frontier fence, and that it had no idea the party contained prominent Hezbollah members, and least of all an Iranian general. Alex Fishman wrote in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth that "one official apologizes anonymously, the other official refuses to apologize anonymously ... We are talking about a potential war and the heads of the state are playing hide and seek."
Contents
A United Nations spokesman reported that the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) observed two unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) flying from Israeli-occupied Golan and crossing the Area of Separation buffer zone towards UN position 30 on the Syrian controlled edge of the zone, where they lost track of them. An hour later they saw smoke coming from position 30 but could not identify the source. Later they observed drones coming from the area of position 30 and flying over Jabbata, in the Area of Separation. The spokesman stated that this was a violation of the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria. Residents of al-Amal Farms said that two cars arrived there, and within ten minutes two aircraft fired two missiles on each car. The resulting explosions left charred tyres, molten metal and car parts strewn about. One local was struck in the head by shrapnel and taken to hospital. Hezbollah said that one of their vehicles was destroyed and another damaged. Reports prior to the United Nations statement suggested an attack by an Israeli helicopter, but the later reports indicated it may have been by drones.
Ten days later, Hezbollah launched an ambush against an Israeli military convoy in Shebaa Farms.
Background
Since the beginning of 2013, Hezbollah fighters have operated openly and in significant numbers across the border alongside their Syrian and Iraqi counterparts. They have enabled the regime to regain control of rebel-held areas in central Syria and have improved the effectiveness of pro-regime forces. Since 2013 Hezbollah has been pitted against al Qaeda-linked jihadists who have flocked to Syria from across the Muslim world.
Casualties
Seven people were named as being killed. The Hezbollah members were field commander Mohamad Issa, also known as Abu Issa, "Jawad" Jihad Mughniyah (son of former top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh), "Sayyed Abbas" Abbas Ibrahim Hijazi, "Kazem" Mohammed Ali Hassan Abu al-Hassan, "Daniel" Ghazi Ali Dawi, and "Ihab" Ali Hassan Ibrahim. The Iranian was Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi (also spelt Allah Dadi), a member of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who was deployed to Syria to assist the Syrian government against the rebels in the civil war. Hezbollah's Al-Manar news channel said that the attack occurred during a "field reconnaissance mission" by Hezbollah. According to Israeli sources, Jihad Mughniyeh was believed to have been in the planning stages of "deadly terrorist attacks" against Israel in the Golan Heights, which would have included rockets, cross-border infiltrations, border bombings, and anti-tank fire, designed to kill IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians who live in the Golan.
Mohamad Issa was a 42-year-old from Arab Salim in the Nabatieh District of southern Lebanon. His father was Syrian and his mother Lebanese. He joined Hezbollah by the age of 15, and rose through the ranks and took a leadership in many battles with Israel, including the 2006 Lebanon War. He was said to be leading Hezbollah's operations in the Golan at the time of his death and was the only one officially identified by Hezbollah as a commander.
Jihad Mughniyah was 25 years old and a rising figure within Hezbollah. His father was top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by a car bombing in Damascus in 2008. His fathers' two brothers, one also named Jihad, were killed in car bombings in 1985 and 1994. His father had close ties to Iran and was said to report to Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force. Soleimani was very close to Jihad Mughniyah after his father was killed, and reportedly adopted him as his son. Mughniyeh was close to Mustafa Badr Al Din, the military leader of Hezbollah and brother-in-law of his father. Mughniyeh also had a close personal connection to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. With his high-level personal connections with Iran and within Hezbollah, and the status of his father, Mughniyeh was known as "the prince" in Hezbollah, and many expected him to quickly rise within the organization to a position similar to that of his father. After Syrian rebels captured Tal al-Hara and seized documents in October 2014, a Syrian National Council spokesman said that Mughniyeh was serving as Hezbollah's Golan District commander.
Abbas Ibrahim Hijazi was a 35-year-old from Ghazieh in the Sidon District of southern Lebanon. His father, known as Abu Kamal, was a founding member of Hezbollah. Hijazi had been involved in the 2006 war and had fought with Hezbollah against Syrian rebels in Qusair and Yabroud in Syria in 2014. He was married to a daughter of Abu Hasan Salameh, a Hezbollah commander killed by the Israelis in 1999. Mohammad Ali Hassan Abu al-Hasan was 29 and was from Ain Qana. Ghazi Ali Dawi was 26 and from Khiam. Ali Hassan Ibrahim was 21 and from Yahmar al Shaqif.
Escalation
On January 27, at least two rockets from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and Israel responded with artillery fire.
On January 28, Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms near the Lebanon border, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. In response, Israel fired at least 50 artillery shells across the border into southern Lebanon, in which a Spanish UN peacekeeper was killed.
Beginning in February 2015, Iranian and Hezbollah forces supported by the Syrian Government launched "Operation Martyrs of Quneitra" named after the combtants killed in the Israeli strike, with an aim of the offensive being the establishment of a Hezbollah controlled front against Israel.