Top Hamas commander assassinated in Israeli drone attack in Beirut
02 January 2024
Saleh al-Aruri (Photo inserted)
Israel has assassinated Hamas's deputy head in a drone strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut late on Tuesday.
Saleh al-Aruri was killed in a "treacherous Zionist strike", Hamas said on its official channel.
A high-level security official said that Aruri was killed in the Israeli strike along with his bodyguards in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, which is a stronghold of Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Lebanon's state news agency ANN reported that three were killed and 11 wounded in the drone strike in Beirut, which hit during a meeting at a Hamas office. According to reports, the wounded were evacuated to the hospital.
The killing came as Israel's onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip has killed at least 22,185 people and injured 57,035, according to figures from Gaza's health authorities.
Haniyeh identifies the seven Hamas members killed in Beirut
Seven Hamas members, including Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau; Qassam Brigades commanders Samir Findi and Azzam al-Aqraa; and Hamas members Mahmoud Zaki Shahin, Mohammad Bashasha, Mohammad al-Rayes, and Ahmad Hamoud, were killed in the same Israeli strike on Beirut.
Hamas chief: Assassinating al-Aruri is 'terrorist act'
Hamas
chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a brief Tuesday speech that Israel's
attacks on Beirut are a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and an
expansion of Israel's circle of hostility against Palestinians.
"We
hold Israel responsible for the ramifications of the assassination," he
added, "we will not be deterred or intimated by such actions."
"The targeting of our movement will make our movement stronger and more determined to continue the struggle."
Fatah leaders condemn al-Aruri assassination
Fatah leaders condemn the assassination of Saleh Al Arouri, and hail him as "an outstanding Palestinian leader," Al Araby TV has reported.
https://www.newarab.com/news/top-hamas-commander-assassinated-israeli-attack-beirut
