A drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, killed senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.
The drone hit a Hamas workplace, leaving six individuals lifeless, Lebanon’s state information company reported.
Hamas confirmed the loss of life of al-Arouri and referred to as it a “cowardly assassination” by Israel, including that assaults on Palestinians “inside and outdoors Palestine is not going to reach breaking the need and steadfastness of our individuals, or undermining the continuation of their valiant resistance”.
“It proves as soon as once more the abject failure of this enemy to attain any of its aggressive targets within the Gaza Strip,” the group mentioned.
Following the information of the loss of life of al-Arouri, mosques in Arura, the occupied West Financial institution city of north Ramallah, are mourning his loss of life and a common strike has been referred to as in Ramallah for Wednesday.
Here’s what to know concerning the Hamas official killed in Lebanon.
Who was Saleh al-Arouri?
Al-Arouri, 57, was the deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau and one of many founders of the group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.
He had been dwelling in exile in Lebanon after spending 15 years in an Israeli jail. Earlier than the conflict started on October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him.
In latest weeks, al-Arouri took on the function of spokesperson for the group and instructed Al Jazeera final month that Hamas wouldn’t focus on an trade deal for the captives the group is holding earlier than the conflict ends in Gaza.
America labelled al-Arouri as a “international terrorist” in 2015 and issued a $5m reward for any data on him.
What has Israel mentioned about al-Arouri’s loss of life?
Whereas there was no official response from Israel concerning the loss of life of the Hamas official, Mark Regev, an adviser to Netanyahu, instructed the US outlet MSNBC that Israel doesn’t take accountability for this assault. However, added, “Whoever did it, it have to be clear: this was not an assault on the Lebanese state.”
“Whoever did this did a surgical strike in opposition to the Hamas management,” he mentioned.
Nevertheless, Danny Danon, a former Israeli envoy to the United Nations, hailed the assault and congratulated the Israeli military, Shin Guess, the safety service and Mossad, Israel’s intelligence company, for killing al-Arouri.
“Anybody who was concerned within the 7/10 bloodbath ought to know that we are going to attain out to them and shut an account with them,” he mentioned on X in Hebrew, referring to the October 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel that killed almost 1,200 individuals.
Israel’s relentless bombing and artillery shelling of Gaza since then has killed greater than 22,000 Palestinians, together with greater than 8,000 kids.
Based on Israeli media, the federal government has ordered cupboard ministers to not give any interviews about al-Arouri’s loss of life after Danon’s tweet.
What has been the response from Lebanon?
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the assault on the Beruit suburb and mentioned it was a “new Israeli crime” in addition to an try to tug Lebanon into the conflict.
Mikati additionally warned in opposition to the “Israeli political higher echelon resorting to exporting its failures in Gaza to the southern border to impose new info on the bottom and alter the foundations of engagement”.
Hezbollah mentioned that the assault on Lebanon’s capital “is not going to move with out punishment”.
