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 on January 2, 2024 (AFP)
Jan 2,
2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
An Israeli
drone strike on a Hamas office in southern Beirut on Tuesday killed Saleh
al-Arouri, deputy head of the group’s politburo and a founding commander of its
military wing, a Hamas spokesperson told Rudaw.
“The hostile raid targeted the Hamas office, where a meeting of the Palestinian factions was being held, and it led to the martyrdom of a Hamas official in the West Bank, Saleh al-Arouri, and 3 other martyrs, and the wounding of 11 people,” Lebanon’s state National News Agency said.
The assassination came a day before the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the top commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) in a US drone strike in Baghdad International Airport.
In a
statement, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq said that the assassination of
Arouri “will not succeed in breaking the will” of the movement in Gaza against
Israeli forces.
“It proves once again the utter failure of the enemy to achieve any of its
aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Lebanese
Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the Israeli killing of Arouri, saying it
“aims to draw Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations” with Israel. It comes
as Israel and Hezbollah exchange daily cross-border attacks in southern
Lebanon.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, has previously vowed retaliation for any
Israeli attack on Palestinian officials and leaders in Lebanon.
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