Israeli strike kills Hamas deputy head in Beirut

An Israeli strike on Tuesday targeted and killed Saleh al-Aruri, the deputy head of the Hamas movement, in a southern Beirut stronghold of Hamas ally Hezbollah.

This marks a critical escalation in the nearly three-month-long war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

Aruri, a key military strategist for Hamas, is the first senior official of the movement to be killed during the ongoing conflict.

Lebanese state media reported that the Israeli drone strike claimed a total of six lives.

The attack on Aruri came as the first strike on the Lebanese capital since the hostilities began, with Lebanon’s southern border witnessing regular cross-border exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military refrained from commenting on the foreign media reports regarding the Beirut strike.

Security officials in Lebanon confirmed Aruri’s death, revealing that he was killed along with his bodyguards. Two floors of the targeted building and one car were damaged in the attack.

Hamas later officially confirmed Aruri’s death on its official TV channel, denouncing it as a “treacherous Zionist strike.”

The organization’s media disclosed that the strike also claimed the lives of two other members of its armed wing, including Samir Fandi, another Hamas official.

Lebanese state media indicated that the targeted Hamas office in Al-Musharrafiya, located in Beirut’s southern suburbs, was hosting a meeting of Palestinian factions when the hostile Israeli drone struck.

Witnesses reported a significant blast, causing damage to two floors of the building and sending debris into surrounding areas.

Saleh al-Aruri, accused by Israel of masterminding numerous attacks, had a significant history. He was elected deputy to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in 2017 and later officially named the group’s number two.

Aruri spent nearly two decades in Israeli prisons before being freed in 2010, with the condition that he went into exile.

Reacting to Aruri’s killing, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq emphasized that it will not undermine the ongoing resistance in Gaza and highlighted the failure of Israel’s goals there.

Islamic Jihad, another armed group allied with Hamas in Gaza, condemned the “assassination” of Aruri and his comrades, viewing it as an attempt to escalate regional tensions.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing, stating that it aims to draw Lebanon further into the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a statement from his office.