Mohammad Baraa al-Katerji, a Syrian businessman with deep ties to the Axis of Resistance, was assassinated on 15 July in an Israeli airstrike near Syrian–Lebanese border.
Katerji was killed in the town of Saboura on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon on Monday evening.
He was a high-profile businessman in Syria and across the region. Along with his brother Hussam, he established businesses in the oil, construction, logistics, and transport sectors. The two were also close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Katerji was allegedly involved in financing and helping to facilitate weapons transfers to resistance movements across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to an Israeli official cited by Financial Times. According to the unnamed official, this included millions of dollars to Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza in October.
As a result, he and his brother have faced harsh sanctions from the US, UK, and EU over the years. Among the sanctioned businesses is the Katerji Holding Group.
“About a month ago, Katerji Holding Group announced the launch of work on the largest industrial complex in the Middle East and the first of its kind in Syria within the Sheikh Najjar Industrial City in Aleppo on an area of up to three million square meters,” Syrian journalist Mohammad Dabaa wrote on Tuesday.
“The project includes 357 industries, provides 300,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, and relies on alternative energy, producing 150 megawatts of electrical current, with an implementation period of 12 months,” he added.
The killing comes as Israel has stepped up its illegal airstrikes on Syrian territory.
Hellbound and Down 