1 of two | Smoke billows from the location of an explosion close to Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday from an Israeli drone strike that killed a Hamas senior chief, Saleh al Arouri, and others. Picture by Abbas Salman/EPA-EFE
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 2 (UPI) — A senior Hamas chief and two companions have been killed Tuesday in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburb, the stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah, based on the militant Palestinian group.
Saleh al-Arouri, 58, who served as Hamas’ deputy politburo chief and its army commander of the West Financial institution, died within the assault. He was a founding commander of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ Armed Wing, and has been dwelling in Lebanon since 2018.
He was imprisoned twice in Israeli jails for a complete of 18 years earlier than being launched in 2010. He was recognized to be the coordinator between Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Israeli strike focused an residence within the Musharafiyeh neighborhood within the southern suburbs, killing al-Arouri and two commanders of al-Qassam Brigades. Three others have been additionally killed and 11 wounded. The assault brought on appreciable injury and set ablaze a number of vehicles, based on safety sources and Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, confirmed al-Arouri’s “cowardly assassination” within the Israeli strike, saying it “won’t undermine the continuation of the courageous resistance” and “won’t achieve breaking the desire and steadfastness” of the Palestinian folks.
Al-Rishq stated the assassination “proves as soon as once more the failure of this enemy to realize any of its aggressive objectives within the Gaza Strip,” the place 22,185 folks have been killed and 57,035 injured in Israel’s relentless bombardment since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
Tuesday’s assault got here amid rising fears of a full-scale battle between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been battling alongside the Lebanese-Israeli border for the reason that Gaza battle broke out. The each day combating, though restricted to components of southern Lebanon and northern Israel, has resulted in quite a few deaths, destruction and displacement on each side.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated Tuesday’s strike is “a brand new Israeli crime” that goals at “dragging Lebanon into a brand new section of confrontations” and imposing “new guidelines of engagement.”
Mikati described al-Arouri’s assassination as “a transparent response” to Lebanon’s efforts to “preserve away the specter of the continued Gaza battle.”
“It has develop into clear to everybody … that the choice to go to battle is within the fingers of Israel, and what’s required is to discourage it and cease its aggression,” he stated in an announcement.
Hezbollah chief Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has warned Israel towards resuming its assassination plots on Lebanese soil, is about to ship a speech Wednesday through which he’s anticipated to outline his group’s place and attainable retaliation to al-Arouri’s assassination.