Syria, Iran, Hamas Condemn Killing of Quntar

Several of Hizbullah's allies in the region condemned Sunday the assassination of the group's top militant Samir al-Quntar in a raid in Syria.

Syrian Prime Minister Wael Halaqi condemned the attack, saying targeting Quntar was equivalent to "targeting the axis of resistance," referring to Syria and its allies.

Iran, a close ally of Hizbullah and the Syrian regime, called it an "assassination" that was a "violation of an independent country's national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

In Gaza, Palestinian group Hamas condemned what it called "the Israeli assassination crime" against Quntar.

Quntar was freed by Israel as part of a prisoner swap in 2008, three decades after he was convicted of killing four Israelis, and he then became a high-profile figure in Hizbullah.

In September, the United States placed Quntar on its terror blacklist, saying he had "played an operational role, with the assistance of Iran and Syria, in building up Hizbullah's terrorist infrastructure in the Golan Heights."

The 54-year-old was killed on Saturday night "when the Zionist enemy planes bombed the building where he lived in Jarmana," southeast of Damascus, Hizbullah said in a statement.