Hamas official killed in ‘Israel’ drone strike on Beirut
The deputy political chief of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed on Tuesday night in an Israeli drone attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut. Saleh al-Arouri was also a founder of the group’s military wing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously threatened to kill him – before Hamas carried out its attack on Israel on Oct 7.
The drone attack took place in a densely populated urban stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, raising concerns the conflict between Hamas and Israel risks engulfing more of the middle east.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has previously warned Israel against targeting any Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian or Iranian officials in Lebanon, as it would lead to “harsh retaliation” by the group.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran posted criticism on X against Israel’s “cowardly terrorist operation”:
Lebanon’s state news agency reported that an Israeli drone struck a Hamas office. Two security sources said the strike had targeted a meeting between Hamas officials and Lebanon’s Sunni Islamist Jama’a Islamiya faction.
At the time of writing, the attack has so far left a total of four Palestinians and three Lebanese dead.
Also at the time of writing, Israel has not officially claimed responsibility – though has published the following article on their local media site.
Written in the New York Times, an unnamed senior U.S. official said “it was most likely the first of many strikes that Israel would carry out against Hamas operatives” following the attack on October 7.
“No one is safe if they had any hand in planning, raising money for or carrying out these attacks,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal discussions.
The New York Times
According to the Associated Press, “A Lebanese security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the attack appeared to have been carried out by a drone that fired missiles into the building, targeting one specific floor.”
The explosion impacted the surrounding area, which is densely populated by civilians.
Unless otherwise linked, headlines are front pages for Wednesday 3 January 2024.
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Senior Hamas leader killed in Lebanon drone attack
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- Elements of this article were directly taken by a piece written by the state-funded Times of Israel
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