1/2/2024-|Last update: 1/2/202408:58 PM (Mecca time)
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced that Israel assassinated Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of its political bureau, and two leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades, in a drone attack on a building in the southern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday evening.
Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said, “The cowardly assassinations carried out by the Zionist occupation against the leaders and symbols of our Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people.”
For his part, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut is “an Israeli crime aimed at bringing Lebanon into a new phase.”
On the other hand, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, congratulated the Israeli army, Shin Bet, Mossad, and security forces on the assassination of Al-Arouri, while the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the ministers not to comment on the matter.
Al-Arouri was born in 1966 and had a major role in launching the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank in 1992 (Reuters – Archive)
On the other hand, the Washington Post quoted an American military official as saying that Israel was responsible for Al-Arouri’s assassination.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that there were deaths and injuries as a result of the explosion that occurred in the Mushrifiyah area in the southern suburb of Beirut. He said that the explosion caused great damage as it led to the blowing up of an entire floor.
Director of Al Jazeera’s office in Beirut, Mazen Ibrahim, said that the assassination of Al-Arouri is expected to lead to a change in the situation on the Lebanese front with Israel, noting that the Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, had vowed in a previous speech that any targeting of a resistance official, whether Lebanese or A Palestinian will change the entire equation in southern Lebanon.
In turn, Reuters said that it asked the Israeli army questions about the incident, but it responded that it “does not comment on foreign media reports.”
Effects of the Israeli targeting of the office in which Al-Arouri and a number of Hamas leaders were located (Reuters)
According to Reuters, Al-Arouri was a senior official in Hamas’s political bureau, but he was known for his intense involvement in its military affairs.
Meanwhile, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Israeli officials as saying that Al-Arouri’s assassination was “a high-quality operation, and all Hamas leaders are doomed to death.”
On the other hand, the Israeli Prime Minister’s advisor told the American network MSNBC that Israel did not claim responsibility for the Beirut attack, indicating that the attack did not target the Lebanese government or Hezbollah.
2024-01-02 18:00:00
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