Why Israel may have killed Syrian businessman as ‘warning’ to Assad

The reported Israeli assassination of prominent Syrian businessman Mohammad Baraa Katerji is one of the most high-profile killings in Syrian territory since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October.

An official in an Iran-backed group told the Financial Times that Katerji, 48, was killed when a drone struck his car in Saboura, an area in Syria only a few kilometres away from the border with Lebanon.

No further information has been shared about the assassination at this point.

Katerji, who, along with his brother Hussam, enjoys very close ties to the Syrian government, became known as one of the country’s many war profiteers, often trading across enemy lines throughout Syria’s civil war.

Read more: Why Israel may have killed Syrian businessman as ‘warning’ to Assad