A prominent Syrian businessman who has long been close to the government of Bashar al-Assad has been killed by an Israeli drone near the border with Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese media and the Associated Press report.

The man, Baraa Katerji, was traveling in his car near the Syrian-Lebanese border Monday evening when it was struck by a missile, instantly killing him and his bodyguard.

President Bashar al-Assad and business tycoon Baraa Katerji

He was likely targeted due to his being under US-led sanctions and a facilitator of so-called ‘illicit’ shipments of Iranian oil into Syria. Katerji oversaw a business empire based on oil, transport, logistics, and construction.

The AP details based on regional sources that—

An official from an Iran-backed group said that Katerji was killed instantly while in his SUV on the highway linking Lebanon with Syria. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

The pro-government Al-Watan daily quoted unnamed “sources” as saying that Katerji, 48, was killed in a “Zionist drone strike on his car.” It gave no further details.

Both the US and Israel have long sought to thwart Iranian oil and energy imports. For years the Syrian population has been hit hard by the sanctions, and is almost totally dependent on energy links to Tehran.

Prior to the war, the Syrian population’s fuel and energy needs could be sustained by oil and gas fields in northeast Syria, but the US has occupied these going back years at this point. This has resulted in rolling blackouts and lengthy queues at gas stations. The economy has been smashed and led to unprecedented poverty and hunger.

Israel has been attacking what it calls ‘Iranian assets’ in Syria on almost a weekly basis, with the last strike on Damascus being Sunday, resulting in a Syrian soldier killed and three others injured.

Lebanese media report an alleged Israeli airstrike on a car near the Syrian town of as-Saboura, close to the border with Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/PA7lJ69Cbi

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 15, 2024

A source told state-run SANA, “The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of occupied Syrian Golan, while our Syrian Arab Army’s air defense systems intercepted the missiles launched by the Israeli enemy and downed some of them.”

Washington and Tel Aviv have remained committed to ensuring Syria can never be rebuilt, and that the economy and infrastructure stay in ruins…

About a month ago, Katerji Holding Company launched the largest industrial complex in the Middle East and the first of its kind in Syria in the Sheikh Najjar Industrial City in Aleppo on an area of up to 3 million square meters.

The project includes 357 industries, provides…

— Kevork Almassian🇸🇾🇦🇲 (@KevorkAlmassian) July 15, 2024

While such strikes have become common, much more rare is a drone strike of a lone businessman. It remains a mystery as to exactly why Israeli intelligence would target Katerji, however, enemies of Damascus have long seen him as a powerful figure within the ‘elite’ Assad inner-circle.