The senior general of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria has been killed in his home near Damascus by an Israeli airstrike. Israeli officials are refusing to comment on the killing.

“I am not referring to this or that operation in the Middle East reported by non-Israeli media,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. chief spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces. “The I.D.F. has a role, of course: to protect and safeguard the security interests of the state of Israel.”

Brigadier General Sayyed Reza Mousavi was the protege and close associate of General Qasem Soleimani, who was Cuisinart-ed by a US Hellfire missile near the Baghdad Airport on the orders of President Trump (BREAKING: Iranian Revolutionary Guard Leader Qasem Soleimani, Other Pro-Iranian Leaders Taken Out in Strike Near U.S. Forces in Baghdad ). He was the commander of Iranian forces in Syria and controlled logistics and financial operations for Iranian proxies. 

According to the website "Iran International," the unit Mousavi led has been targeted by Israel several times, the last time in September 2022.

Israel carried out airstrikes on Syria's Damascus International airport and other positions south of the capital on late Friday and early Saturday, September 16 and 17, targeting what is called 'Unit 2250' -- a special Iranian logistics institution run by Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard. 

Established as a subset of Unit 2000, the outfit is headquartered in Damascus with many offices across Syria such as the suburbs of the capital as well as Latakia, Hama, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor.

The unit is in charge of receiving incoming equipment, weapons and personnel from Iran as well as supporting the Iran-backed Lebanese forces in the country. It is also tasked with escorting and hosting senior Iranian officials and their families upon arrival in Syria, which are usually carried out in coordination with senior Syrian authorities.

Iran is not happy and is threatening dire consequences.

Iranian Defence Ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik threatened Israel over the death of Mousavi on Tuesday saying "The Zionists (Israel) must be prepared for the consequences of their crime ... and they will be painful."

Israel had not only violated Syria's territorial integrity with the attack, but had also escalated the already tense situation in the region even further, he was quoted as saying by Iran's Tasnim news agency.

Hamas is also muttering under its breath.

“The Zionist occupation’s assassination of Brigadier General Radhi Mousavi in Syrian territory is a crime, a cowardly assault, and a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an Arab country, a Zionist orgy and criminality, that violates all international laws and norms, and threatens security and stability in the region, which calls for his isolation, the criminalization of his terrorism, and his trial.  

We in the Hamas movement, and while we condole the brothers in the Revolutionary Guard in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the family of the martyr Mousavi, and the brotherly Iranian people, we praise his role in supporting the Palestinian resistance, and we affirm that the crimes of the Zionist enemy, inside and outside Palestine, will not succeed in breaking the will of our people and our nation, and extinguishing Our continued resistance, until it is defeated and removed from our land.”

As with so many things in the Middle East, this one is a veritable house of mirrors. Is Israel trying to warn off Iran from sponsoring the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping? This seems like a three-cushion bank shot to me because killing a terrorist in Damascus seems like an inefficient way to send a message about a proxy state shooting missiles in the Red Sea. There is also speculation that Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah into action to give an excuse to settle accounts with them. This makes more sense because October 7 was "proof of concept" for every terrorist group in the Middle East. They know that Israel can be hit hard. I don't think there is any doubt that Hezbollah is planning a similar but larger operation, but the political environment won't permit a preemptive strike by Israel. Killing Mousavi might be what is needed to get Hezbollah to lash out at Israel.