Saudi Shi’ite, Son Of U.S-Wanted Hizbullah Leader In Al-Hijaz Reportedly Killed In Israeli Airstrike In South Lebanon

The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here. 

On November 11, 2024, the Thwwar Al-Nimr (The Al-Nimr Rebels) Telegram channel, which is affiliated with the opposition to the Saudi regime, reported the death of Dr. 'Imran Ahmad Al-Mughassil aka 'Imran Karim, in an Israeli Air Force attack in South Lebanon. The report was published with a photograph of the deceased and stated that he was the son of “the imprisoned [in Saudi Arabia] leader Ahmad Al-Mughassil aka Abu 'Imran, and had become “a martyr on the path to Jerusalem” – a common description used by Hizbullah to refer to the death of one of its fighters in battle.[1]

On the following day, the channel published a statement from the Saudi community in the Iranian city of Qom, which described the deceased as “the first martyr from Al-Qatif [in eastern Saudi Arabia] in the Al-Aqsa Flood war.” The statement was issued with photographs from a ceremony held in Qom to honor the memory of 'Imran Ahmad Al-Mughassil.[2]

Also on November 9, on his Telegram channel, Syrian jihadi researcher Khalil Al-Muqdad noted that 'Imran Al-Mughassil was the son of Ahmad Al-Mughassil who is wanted by the American government[3] in connection with the June 25, 1996 attack on the Khobar Towers complex near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and is also the alleged head of the “military wing” of the pro-Iran Saudi Hizbullah or Hizbullah Al-Hijaz terrorist organization.[4]

On November 10, the Thwwar Al-Nimr Telegram channel posted video footage from a speech delivered on the same day by Mu’yn Al-Daqiq, Hizbullah’s representative in Iran’s Qom Province, at an event held in Al-Mughassil’s memory.[5] On November 11, the same channel posted a short videoclip from the Beirut funeral for Al-Mughassil, which showed his body wrapped in a Hizbullah flag.[6]