Saleh Arouri was a founder of the group’s military wing (Picture: Getty)
The deputy leader of Hamas has been assassinated in Lebanon in an apparent Israeli drone strike, sparking renewed fears of the conflict spilling beyond Gaza into the wider Middle East.
Saleh Arouri was a founder of the group’s military wing and the most senior figure killed since the war with Israel began.
Hamas’s Lebanon-based allies Hezbollah said the killing in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh was ‘a serious assault’ on the country and ‘a dangerous development in course of war’.
The group pledged the deaths of Arouri along with other Al-Qassam members ‘will not go without a response or punishment’, adding that the resistance has ‘its finger on the trigger’.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began nearly three months ago.
But so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting.
People gather at the site of a strike, reported by Lebanese media to be an Israeli strike targeting a Hamas office, in the southern suburb of Beirut (Picture: AFP)
Hamas deputy leader Aruri was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs (Picture: AFP via Getty)
A significant response now could send the conflict spiralling into all-out war on Israel’s northern border.
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Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strike was carried out by an Israeli drone. Israeli officials declined to comment, as is typical in such scenarios.
Speaking to reporters, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari did not directly mention Arouri’s death but said: ‘We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas.’
‘We are on high readiness for any scenario.’
The killing comes ahead of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, even as the United States has tried to prevent a spread of the conflict, repeatedly warning Hezbollah — and its regional supporter, Iran — not to escalate the violence.
Civil defense workers search for survivors inside an apartment following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut (Picture: AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the assault in Gaza until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza are freed, which he has said could take several more months.
At the same time, Israeli officials have increasingly warned in recent days of stepped-up action against Hezbollah unless its cross-border fire stops.
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to kill Hamas leaders wherever they are.
The group’s October 7 attack from Gaza on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage.
Israel claims to have killed a number of mid-level Hamas leaders in Gaza, but this would be the first time it has reached into another country to target the upper leaders, many of whom live in exile around the region.
Arouri was the deputy of Hamas’ supreme political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and headed the group’s presence in the West Bank. He was also a key liaison with Hezbollah.
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