Israel Assassinates Deputy Head Of Hamas In Drone Attack On Beirut Suburb

Update (1215ET): Hamas has now officially confirmed the death of high-ranking political official Saleh al-Arouri. There was previous confirmation through various sources, including in Israeli media, yet the IDF has yet to take responsibility for the attack:

Hamas’s deputy leader abroad Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, the Hezbollah-linked al-Mayadeen reports.

…Based in Lebanon, al-Arouri, 57, was deputy head of the terror group’s political bureau and considered the de facto leader of Hamas’s military wing in the West Bank.

Israeli intelligence officials believe that al-Arouri also helped plan the June 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens — Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel — as well as numerous other attacks.

He had served several terms in Israeli jails, and was released in March 2010 as part of efforts to reach a larger prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit, an IDF corporal kidnapped by Hamas in 2006

As both the founding commander of Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades, and as Deputy Chairman of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Arouri is among the highest ranking Hamas figures to have ever been assassinated by Israel. Hamas has also said two other members of the Qassam Brigades were killed in the attack.

Why it matters: Arouri is the most senior Hamas leader that was killed since the October 7 attack. The assassination which took place in the heart of Beirut very close to Hezbollah’s headquarters could push the Lebanese militia to escalate its attacks against Israel https://t.co/Lxb5enkt7U

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 2, 2024

An Al-Mayadeen correspondent in the southern suburbs of Beirut has said that six people in total were killed as a result of three missiles that struck the building from a low-flying Israeli drone.

This escalatory event has sparked new fears that Iran is about to get more deeply involved, as its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah has already escalated attacks on northern Israel, and is expected to further.

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There are breaking reports via Lebanese state media and AFP saying that Israel has conducted a strike against a Hamas office in a Beirut suburb. 

Lebanese security sources have said a senior Palestinian official was killed in an explosion in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which is also considered a Hezbollah stronghold. However, there is little that is verified at this point. According to breaking news wires:

DEPUTY HEAD OF HAMAS POLITBURO KILLED IN BEIRUT: MAYADEEN TV

Unconfirmed reports that a drone hit a car in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut. #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/L0Y5Zck71n

— Sharmine Narwani (@snarwani) January 2, 2024

Washington Post Beirut correspondent Sarah Dadouch has confirmed there was a large explosion in Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood, writing that “a Hezbollah spokesman told me a Palestinian official headquarters was targeted in Dahieh.”

At statement in Lebanese state media further says it was an Israeli drone that targeted the Hamas office in Dahieh. Lebanese News Agency is reporting 4 dead and several wounded in the attack, as emergency personnel continue responding to the scene.

In prior major flare-ups in fighting between Palestinians and Israel, Israel’s military has conducted such targeted operations on offices in Beirut, but this certainly will be seen as a major escalation by Hezbollah, which offers these Palestinian groups protection.

Seeing more indications from a few reliable sources on social media that the explosion tonight in Dahiyeh, a #Hezbollah stronghold, may have been targeting a Palestinian HVT. Lots of #Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders frequent Beirut. pic.twitter.com/U2xNnYo8m7

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) January 2, 2024

developing…