Hezbollah Holds Israel Accountable for Assassinating Group's Activist

Israel will be held accountable for the murder of Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group member, Samir Kuntar, the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council said on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, three missiles launched from southern Lebanon hit northern Israel, to which the Israeli military responded with artillery fire. The incident comes after Hezbollah member Kuntar was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential building near the Syrian capital.

"Israel has opened a new account in respect of resistance [by killing] Samir Kuntar," Hashim Safi Al Din said at Kuntar's funeral.

Hezbollah, established in the 1980s, is a paramilitary and political organization originating in Lebanon's Shiite population. The group aims to end Israel's occupation of Lebanon.

Samir Kuntar was a former guerrilla fighter, who participated in the armed Galilee onslaught during the war between Israel and Lebanon, in which four Israelis were killed.

In Israel, Kuntar was sentenced to life in prison, and served nearly 30 years there, but was released in 2008 as part of a prisoner swap with Hezbollah.

In Lebanon, Kuntar was considered a so-called hero of the resistance.