In 2019, the United States sanctioned the Lebanese man Muhammad Sorour on accusations that he funneled tens of millions of dollars from Iran’s Quds Force to the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. Yesterday, he was found murdered in a villa in Beit Mery, near Beirut, after having gone missing for nearly a week.
Sorour was shot more than five times and was found in possession of an undisclosed sum of money which the killers did not take. The immediate suspicion is that he was assassinated by Israel’s Mossad.
The villa he was found in was reported to be rented by an unnamed tenant who had simply “disappeared” after the killing. The body of Sorour shows signs of torture, including having been shot in both the hands and feet.
Sorour, who was employed in a currency exchange shop in Beit Mery, worked for Hezbollah’s money transfer service, Bayt al-Mal. He was reported to be working with Hezbollah operatives to see to it that the money reached the Qassam Brigades.
Israel has regularly pursued Hamas members and supporters since the Gaza War began in October, and Sorour seems a likely target.
That a substantial sum of money was left apparently untouched at the scene leads credence to the conclusion that this was not some one-off robbery, but a direct assassination hit.