Syria has accused Israel of the killing of Medhat al-Saleh, a former legislator in the Syrian Parliament, who was jailed in Israel for 12 years until 1997. Saleh was killed on Saturday in a village on the border between Syria and the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.
State Syrian news reports said Saleh was assassinated by gunfire from Israel. Syria’s government “condemned that cowardly criminal act,” SANA reported.
Saleh is from the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights. He fled across the border to Syria after he was released from an Israeli prison. He then served in the Syrian Parliament and then in Syrian intelligence. He has reportedly attempted to recruit residents of Majdal Shams to spy in Israel.
The Israeli military did not comment on the incident, saying it does not respond to foreign media reports. Israel rarely publicly comments on its actions regarding Syria.