![israel sid to assassinate top Syrian rocket scientist](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/08/07/world/07syria-assassination1-print/merlin_136849020_e9e209a0-d36d-497b-a50f-b81caef9c8ff-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp)
He had free access to the highest levels of the Syrian and Iranian governments, and his own security detail. He led a top-secret weapons-development unit called Sector 4 and was hard at work building an underground weapons factory to replace one destroyed by Israel last year.
On Saturday, he was killed by a car bomb — apparently planted by Mossad, the Israeli spy agency.