Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas, was killed in a drone strike in Beirut, Lebanon. The attack took place in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh and was attributed to Israel by Palestinian militants and local security sources. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, had previously vowed to retaliate against such strikes.
Al-Arouri, who was a founding commander of Hamas’ military wing, was also the deputy chairman of the group’s political bureau at the time of his death.
Israeli military officials, adhering to their policy of silence on extraterritorial assassinations, declined to comment on the attack. This incident marked the first time that Israel had targeted Beirut since the 2006 war with Lebanon.
Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, condemned the killing of al-Arouri by Israel, labeling it as a cowardly assassination.
Al-Rishq emphasized that this act further highlights the failure of Israel to achieve its aggressive objectives in the Gaza Strip. Despite the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Israel has refrained from launching large-scale attacks on Lebanon.
Instead, they have engaged in smaller clashes with Hezbollah militants along the Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah, a Shi’ite paramilitary and political group, considers itself to be at war with Israel. However, their main objective is to engage in a limited campaign that ties up Israeli forces near the border, preventing their deployment to Gaza. In August, Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, warned that any assassination on Lebanese soil would be met with a decisive response from his fighters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously stated that he has instructed Israeli intelligence agents to target Hamas leaders wherever they may be. Reports have also indicated that Netanyahu approved a plan to target Hamas officials in Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar.
