Israel admits 2008 assassination of Syrian nuclear general

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has confirmed in his new book that Israeli commandos assassinated Syrian Brigadier General Muhammad Suleiman in 2008. Suleiman was a top adviser to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a key figure behind Syria’s clandestine nuclear reactor at Deir Ezzor.

The operation took place on August 1, 2008, at Suleiman’s seaside vacation home near Tartus. Olmert describes how soldiers approached the balcony under cover of darkness and fired three bullets, striking Suleiman in the head and neck. While Israel was long suspected of the killing, it had never officially acknowledged responsibility until now.

Suleiman was central to the nuclear project that Israel destroyed in a 2007 strike known as Operation Outside the Box. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports previously noted that the Syrian regime failed to report the reactor and associated nuclear materials, including approximately 73 tons of natural uranium found at the site.