Updated

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confirmed for the first time, in his new book, that Israel killed Muhammad Suleiman, a top adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who oversaw a covert nuclear facility, in 2008. Olmert recounted that elite Israeli troops emerged from the sea to carry out the assassination near Tartus, ending years of official silence on the operation. Israel has now formally admitted to the assassination, with the new book detailing that Suleiman oversaw construction of a nuclear reactor in Deir Ezzor. The disclosure sheds further light on Israel's covert campaign against Syria's nuclear program prior to the 2007 strike on the al-Kibar reactor.