Hamas mentioned Tuesday that certainly one of its senior leaders has been killed in an assault within the south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, elevating fears of a possible escalation in preventing within the area.
Hamas media outlet Al Aqsa TV mentioned Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, was “martyred in a treacherous Zionist airstrike in Beirut.”
Arouri was thought-about one of many founding members of the group’s navy wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and was primarily based in Beirut. Two different leaders from Hamas’ navy wing, Samir Findi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqraa Abu Ammar, had been additionally amongst these killed within the strike, in response to Hamas officers.
A minimum of 4 folks had been killed within the assault that focused an workplace belonging to Hamas within the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh, Lebanese information company NNA reported. The world can be a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) declined to remark when requested in regards to the announcement and its spokesperson Daniel Hagari skirted a query from a reporter on Tuesday in regards to the matter saying “we’re targeted on preventing in opposition to Hamas.”
However in a seemingly veiled reference to the killing, Israel’s far proper Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on his official social media platforms that every one of Israel’s enemies will “perish.”
In the meantime, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, praised the Israeli safety and intelligence companies for what he mentioned was the “assassination” of Arouri on Tuesday. “Anybody who was concerned within the 7/10 bloodbath ought to know that we’ll attain out to them and shut an account with them,” Danon mentioned on X.
If confirmed, Arouri could be probably the most senior Hamas official killed by Israeli forces for the reason that begin of the struggle sparked by the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel.
Along with dealing a blow to Hamas’ management, the assault additionally dangers additional broadening the sector of the Israel-Hamas battle.
It could additionally mark the most important Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital for the reason that 2006 struggle between the 2 international locations.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the assault and mentioned the “explosion is a brand new Israeli crime” aimed toward drawing Lebanon into a brand new part of confrontation, referring to the months-long tit-for-tat battle between Hezbollah and Israeli forces within the Lebanon-Israel border area
“We name on the involved international locations to place stress on Israel to cease its concentrating on. We additionally warn in opposition to the Israeli political degree resorting to exporting its failures in Gaza to the southern [Lebanese] border,” Mikati wrote on X.
“It has turn out to be clear to everybody close to and much that the choice to go to struggle is within the arms of Israel, and what’s required is to discourage it and cease its aggression,” he added.
It could be recalled that Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas after its militants killed tons of of individuals in Israel on October 7.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November instructed a press convention that he had instructed the Mossad spy company to behave in opposition to “the heads of Hamas wherever they’re.”
Israeli authorities spokesperson Mark Regev famous in an interview with MSNBC that Israel had “not taken accountability” for the assault in Beirut. Regev, who’s a senior adviser to Netanyahu, mentioned “whoever did it have to be clear that this was not an assault on the Lebanese state. It was not an assault even on Hezbollah,” Regev mentioned.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political chief, referred to as Arouri’s killing a “cowardly assassination” and blamed Israel for the lethal strike, as did the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who’ve launched greater than 100 assaults in opposition to a few dozen industrial and service provider ships transiting the Crimson Sea over the previous few weeks.
(CNN)
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