An Israeli drone strike this week along the Beirut-Damascus road on Syria’s border with Lebanon killed a key Syrian businessman who also serves as the regime’s oil supply kingpin. The businessman, prominent Baraa Katerji, a key ally of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, represents one of the highest-profile strikes against a pro-Iranian figure in recent months and also coincides with an escalation of cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Katerji was a highly significant figure for the Syrian regime. He’s the one who cut the deals for Kurdish-controlled oil in the country’s eastern Deir ez-Zor region, which he then supplied to the regime. He’s been doing this for a while, which has led to questions about whether the Israelis were actually behind the strike. There is an argument that he was targeted now because of the escalation of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
However, rumors running around the region suggest another possible motive: He was getting too powerful for Assad, who has now solidified his power and has been clearly cleaning house. This Spring, the Katerji conglomerate reportedly revealed it was gearing up to build a massive new industrial complex in Aleppo. An undertaking of this size would further Katerji’s influence– financially, in terms of his tie-ins to the Syrian military-industrial complex, and among the public, whom he would employ in much larger numbers. His power is a threat to Assad, and Middle Eastern media have hinted…
An Israeli drone strike this week along the Beirut-Damascus road on Syria’s border with Lebanon killed a key Syrian businessman who also serves as the regime’s oil supply kingpin. The businessman, prominent Baraa Katerji, a key ally of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, represents one of the highest-profile strikes against a pro-Iranian figure in recent months and also coincides with an escalation of cross-border conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Katerji was a highly significant figure for the Syrian regime. He’s the one who cut the deals for Kurdish-controlled oil in the country’s eastern Deir ez-Zor region, which he then supplied to the regime. He’s been doing this for a while, which has led to questions about whether the Israelis were actually behind the strike. There is an argument that he was targeted now because of the escalation of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
However, rumors running around the region suggest another possible motive: He was getting too powerful for Assad, who has now solidified his power and has been clearly cleaning house. This Spring, the Katerji conglomerate reportedly revealed it was gearing up to build a massive new industrial complex in Aleppo. An undertaking of this size would further Katerji’s influence– financially, in terms of his tie-ins to the Syrian military-industrial complex, and among the public, whom he would employ in much larger numbers. His power is a threat to Assad, and Middle Eastern media have hinted at problems in his relations with Damascus of late. Assad’s inner circle is being trimmed rather aggressively, and not even his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, has been spared. For the past few years, Assad has systematically targeted Makhlouf’s assets, stripping them bare to curb his power and influence.
All indications so far point to an Israeli drone strike, but Assad won’t be sorry to be relieved of Katerji, either. Nor will Washington, which had sanctioned him for links to ISIS.
High-profile assassinations continued on Friday, with Israel killing a senior Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon. Hours later, a missile struck the center of Tel Aviv, with Yemen’s Houthis claiming the attack. One person was killed in the attack—the point of which was to demonstrate how far Iran’s proxies can reach.
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