On 21 October 2024 at 05:17 p.m. (UTC+3:00), at least one civilian was killed and three others injured in a declared Israeli airstrike at the entrance to the Eastern Roundabout near the Golden Mezzeh Hotel in the Mezzeh neighbourhood west of the capital Damascus, Syria. Syrian news outlet SANA reported that the airstrike was carried out by a guided Israeli missile and/or drone launched which hit a car. An individual who was involved in Lebanese Hezbollah’s militant operations was reportedly driving the car and also killed.

Facebook users Abo Walid and Hama reported that the strike was carried out ‘At approximately 05:17 pm’, adding that two civilians were killed and three others injured.

The death of civilian Hadi Awda was reported by Mustafa Radwan on Facebook, who noted that Hadi happened to be present near the car at the moment of the attack. He added the image of Hadi, a middle-aged man with short dark hair and a dark trimmed beard, sitting at a table with food.

A car was destroyed in the strike, and the person inside, Ali Hassan Gharib, who was nicknamed Hajj “Abu Hassan Ayman”, head of the money transfer unit and/or Unit 4400 in the Lebanese Hezbollah was killed. Some sources added that a second unnamed official was also in the car when it was struck. The Facebook post by Feras Beraqdar shared an image of Gharib, a middle-aged man in a military uniform. Another post, shared by Facebook user Alaa echoed the same, and included an image of that appears to be from a diplomatic meeting in which former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was present. In the photo, which is annotated with a red circle, Gharib sits behind the former president. Alaa also noted that Gharib was the predecessor of the former commander, Mohammad Jaafar al-Qasir, who was killed in a declared Israeli airstrike on October 1, 2025. Based on the information and images, Airwars considers Gharib a militant.

Some sources like Facebook user Kurdsat originally reported that the target of the attack was Ziad al-Nakhalah, the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad. However, users like Ramzi issues a ‘correction’, clarifying that it was in fact Gharib, an affiliate of Lebanese Hezbollah, who was killed.

According to Twitter/X account @Osint613, the second official was a commander of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 (unnamed), but it should be noted that fdd.org claimed that Ali Hassan Gharib was himself a Unit 4400 commander. According to Ramzi Tounsi on Facebook, Unit 4400 was responsible for reinforcing and transferring soldiers to Hezbollah’s militant wing.

The Facebook user Feras Beraqdar also corroborated this information, noting that Ali Hassan Gharib had succeeded Mohammad al-Qasir and maintained good relations with the Assad regime. His presence in Mezzeh was due to pay an honour to al-Sinwar by attending the condolence council.

The sources did not provide any information on Mohamad Naser Daw al-Qaysa

The strike was reported by Israeli media and announced by Israeli army officials, according to the Al-Hadath news outlet. Also, the Israeli research and education center Alma posted a statement of the IDF, confirming the killing of Ali Hassan Gharib:

“Yesterday (October 21), Ali Hassan Gharib, known as Abu Hassan Ayman, was eliminated. The strike was carried out while Abu Hassan Ayman was in his vehicle in the Al-Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus. A photo of the strike location is attached.” The exact coordinates of the strike were also attached to the post.

Many sources shared the media from the site of the attack, including a car in flames, the same car completely burnt, and videos showing people inspecting the destroyed vehicle.

Abo Walid also noted that ‘private property’ was also damaged, and images from the site of the strike shared by SANA showed damage to the windows and exterior of the Golden Mezzah Hotel.

On December 27, 2024, the Israeli military posted to their official Telegram account (idfofficial), writing that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had struck “infrastructure that was used to smuggle weapons via Syria to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon at the Janta Crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border.” As part of this effort, the account noted that the military had killed “the commander of Unit 4400 Muhammad Ja’far Qasir, in early October in Beirut, and his designated successor, Ali Hassan Gharib, a few weeks later in Damascus. With them, a number of senior terrorists from the unit were also eliminated.” As a result, this incident has been recorded as a declared strike.