Mustafa Badreddine

BEIRUT — Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria early Friday, pro-Hezbollah al-Mayadeen news outlet reported early Friday.

The attack took place near the Damascus airport.

Badreddine, 55, is said to have inherited the leadership of Hezbollah’s military operations from former leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in 2008.

Badreddine has had a long career leading military operations for Hezbollah. He was being tried in absentia in The Hague for his alleged involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Hezbollah denies the involvement of any of its members in the assassination and calls the tribunal a political ploy to undermine its struggle against Israel.

According to a July 2015 U.S. Treasury statement announcing sanctions against him, Badreddine “is assessed to be responsible for Hezbollah’s military operations in Syria since 2011, including the movement of Hizballah [Hezbollah] fighters from Lebanon to Syria, in support of the Syrian regime.”

It added that he coordinated meetings between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.