An American official announced on Wednesday that Israel was the one that carried out the raid that led to the assassination of Hamas Deputy Chairman Saleh Al-Arouri in the southern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday evening.
“The attack was an Israeli attack,” the official told AFP, requesting that his name not be used.
Israel did not confirm or deny carrying out the assassination of Al-Arouri using a drone in Beirut, but Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli army, said that the Israeli forces are in a state of high readiness and prepared for any eventualities.
On Wednesday, the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) commented on the assassination of Al-Arouri, where the head of the agency, David Barnea, said when asked about the assassination of the leader of the Hamas movement, “Every Arab mother will know that if her son had participated in the October 7 massacre, he would have been killed,” in reference to To Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel about 3 months ago.
On Wednesday, Hamas said that Al-Arouri’s assassination confirms that the battlefield with Israel is “open.”
In a statement, Hamas mourned Al-Arouri and six others from the movement, following a drone bombing that targeted the movement’s office in the southern suburb of Beirut.
The statement issued by Hamas stressed that “the assassination of Hamas leaders will only increase its determination to continue on its path and make the occupation pay the price for its aggression.”
The head of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Tuesday that Al-Arouri’s assassination was a “full-fledged terrorist act.”
Haniyeh considered that the assassination of Al-Arouri represents “a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and an expansion of Israeli hostilities against the Palestinians.”
Haniyeh stressed that his movement “will never be defeated,” noting that these attacks “increase it with strength, solidity, and unwavering determination.”
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2024-01-03 21:34:50