Hezbollah Planned To Assassinate a US Diplomat To Avenge Soleimani's Killing: Report

Hezbollah planned to assassinate a U.S. diplomatic personnel and an Israeli ex-intelligence official in Colombia to avenge the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

However, Israel immediately whisked off its man from Bogotá after getting a whiff that he was being targeted by the Lebanese terror group, a Colombian newspaper reported Sunday.

The Israeli 'target' was a former intelligence officer, now based in Bogotá as a member of the diplomatic corps. He also runs a company involved in the import and sale of surveillance cameras and technology, said a report by Times Of Israel, quoting Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

The report mainly detailed the plot to assassinate the Israeli intel officer and did not give any details about the U.S. personnel allegedly targeted. International Business Times could not independently verify the information.

The newspaper added that the Israeli was one of "a handful of high-profile foreigners" who were being followed by Hezbollah members.

Citing a government report containing information provided by the Mossad, the newspaper reported that Israel’s security service discovered that the businessman had been spied on at many locations. Mossad immediately notified the Colombian authorities that evidence indicated that the Israeli was going to be assassinated.

The members of a U.S. delegation in the city were also under surveillance by the terror group.

The El Tiempo report added that Hezbollah may have been planning to use former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (RAFC), who had been trained in Venezuela, to carry out the hit on the Israeli.

Hezbollah has a presence in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela which has a sizable Lebanese community.

Though it is not clear when the evacuation happened, the report touched upon Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano's statement that the government undertook an operation to "capture and expel two Hezbollah-sponsored criminals who had intentions to commit a criminal act in Colombia."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog had also mentioned the issues regarding Hezbollah to Molano while he accompanied Colombian President Ivan Duque to Israel on November 8. Molano had then said that two countries had a "common enemy in Iran and Hezbollah."

However, Duque later backtracked on Molano’s comments, stating that "Colombia does not use the word enemy to refer to any country," according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.

A-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was assassinated in January 2020 along with several other people when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone fired missiles into a convoy that was leaving the airport. The assassination was authorized by the then President Donald Trump, American officials said.

Soleimani, who led the powerful Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was suspected to be planning attacks on Americans across the region.