Political and Religious Figures Denounce Quntar's Assassination

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat denounced on Sunday the assassination of Hizbullah figure Samir al-Quntar, describing the slain as “a symbol of struggle and steadfastness.”

“Apart from our political differences with regard to the Syrian crisis, we denounce targeting Samir al-Quntar with an Israeli air raid in Jermana that led to his death. He will continue to be a symbol of struggle and steadfastness”, said Jumblat in a statement.

“The martyr Quntar has devoted his life to confront the Israeli occupation, and had spent decades in solitary detention without backing down on his positions and principles,” added the PSP chief.

For his part, MP Marwan Hamadeh also denounced the act, he said: “Israel's criminal act in Jarmana is but a continuation of the Israeli approach based on murder, treachery, destruction.”

The AMAL Movement issued a statement demanding quick international community reaction, it said: “We urge the International community to take direct action to put an end to these crimes.”

The deputy head of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan denounced the assassination of Quntar, also known as Lebanon's Dean of Lebanese Prisoners, he said: “Through this crime, the Zionist enemy aimed to raise the morals of its soldiers, and has therefore made a grave mistake and will bear its consequences.”

Hizbullah said in a statement that he was killed on Saturday night in an Israeli air raid near the Syrian capital Damascus.

Quntar was imprisoned in 1979 in Israel after he was convicted of murder in an attack that left an Israeli policeman, a father and his two children dead. He was long wanted in Israel for the attack considered one of the grisliest in Israeli history.

Israel released Quntar as part of a prisoner exchange in 2008, three decades after the killings, and has since become a high-profile figure in Hizbullah.