Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official, was killed in an Israeli drone strike on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, according to the Palestinian group and Lebanese media.
Al-Arouri was killed Tuesday in a “treacherous Zionist strike,” Hamas said on its official channel. Izzat al-Sharq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, called it a “cowardly assassination.”
Al-Arouri was a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau and was known to be deeply involved in its military affairs. He had previously led the group’s presence in the occupied West Bank.
Samir Findi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqraa Abu Ammar, leaders of Hamas’ armed wing – the Qassam Brigades – were also killed, Hamas said in a message on its Telegram channel.
He named four other members of the group who were also killed.
Earlier, Lebanon’s national news agency said the explosion killed at least six people and was carried out by an Israeli drone.
Hamas said al-Arouri’s killing would not “damage the ongoing courageous resistance” in Gaza, where the Palestinian group’s fighters are battling Israeli ground forces.
“This once again proves the complete failure of the enemy to achieve its aggressive objectives in the Gaza Strip,” senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.
The group’s top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the attack as a “terrorist act,” a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and an expansion of Israel’s circle of hostility against the Palestinians.
Haniyeh said in a televised address that Hamas “will never be defeated.”
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told US news channel MSNBC that Israel had not taken responsibility for the attack but that “whoever did it must be clear that this was not an attack on the Lebanese state.”
“Whoever did this launched a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership,” Regev said in an interview.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing. Hthe office said in a statement that tThis attack “aims to drag Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations” with Israel at a time when Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, exchanges daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in northern Israel, the statement said.
“A dangerous escalation”
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said there was “panic” in the Lebanese capital after the attack.
“The targeted killings have given many people here in the capital the feeling that this conflict could expand and intensify, and all eyes are now on Hezbollah’s response,” Khodr said.
Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, said al-Arouri’s killing would create more resistance against Israel, its state media reported.
“The blood of the martyr will undoubtedly spark a new impetus in the veins of resistance and motivation to fight against the Zionist occupiers, not only in Palestine but also in the region and among all freedom seekers around the world,” he said. said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.
Kanaani also condemned the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Netanyahu had threatened to kill al-Arouri well before the latest Israeli attack on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar told Tel Aviv Tribune that the assassination was a much-needed success for Netanyahu.
Imad Harb, research director at the Arab Center in Washington DC, agrees, saying Israel carried out the attack in search of what has become an elusive victory.
“So far, the Israelis have not been able to achieve a victory in Gaza, so assassinating Hamas leaders is partly something they wanted to do anyway,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “This is an achievement for the Israeli army and for Israeli politicians. »
Since Israeli forces and Hezbollah began exchanging fire on the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8, fighting has largely been concentrated within a few kilometers inside each country. But on several occasions, the Israeli Air Force has struck what it considers to be Hezbollah positions deeper inside Lebanon.
Harb said al-Arouri’s assassination constituted a “dangerous escalation” because it took place in Hezbollah’s area of operations, far from the border.
Harb predicted that Hezbollah would likely intensify its attacks on Israel in response to the assassination, but would refrain from escalating the conflict into an all-out war.
Meanwhile, at mosques in Arura, the hometown of the slain West Bank Hamas leader, Palestinians gathered to mourn al-Arouri’s death.
Demonstrations and rallies also took place in Ramallah and several neighboring towns, such as Deir Qaddis.
A general strike in Ramallah was also called for Wednesday.