In a targeted airstrike near the Lebanese-Syrian border, a prominent Syrian businessman, Mohammad Baraa Qatarji, was killed. Syrian state-aligned newspaper al-Watan reported that Qatarji lost his life when the strike hit the car he was traveling in on the al-Saboura highway near Damascus.

The United States had sanctioned Qatarji in 2018, as he was found guilty of facilitating "shipments of fuel and weapons to the Syrian regime." The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had listed him for his involvement in trading fuel between the Syrian regime and ISIS, as well as providing oil products to ISIS-controlled areas.

Qatarji's company, along with his two brothers Zahed and Hussam, who are also under OFAC sanctions, were accused of establishing a militia that fought alongside the Syrian regime in Aleppo back in 2016. They were also alleged to have connections with Hezbollah.

The US Treasury website indicates that Qatarji had a strong working relationship with officials in the Syrian government, particularly within the ministries of oil and trade. Furthermore, earlier this year, a Lebanese money exchanger named Tawfiq Muhammad Sa'id al-Law was identified as providing Hezbollah with cryptocurrency wallets to conduct transfers on behalf of the Qatirji Company.

It should be noted that in April, Lebanon's interior minister reported the abduction and killing of a Hezbollah-linked currency exchanger in a villa located on the outskirts of a tranquil mountain resort town. This incident was believed to be the work of Israeli intelligence operatives.

The airstrike that targeted and killed Mohammad Baraa Qatarji highlights the ongoing tensions in the region and the complex dynamics shaping the Syrian conflict. Israel's military intervention against individuals and entities that are perceived as threats to its security continues to influence the fragile stability in the region.