War in Gaza: Hamas says its deputy head killed in ‘treacherous Zionist strike’
Saleh al-Aruri
Hamas television on Tuesday (Jan 2) announced that Israel killed the militant group's deputy head in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
On its official channel, Hamas said that Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a "treacherous Zionist strike".
A high-level security official in Beirut told the news agency AFP that Arouri was killed in the Israeli strike along with his bodyguards in the Lebanese capital, which is a stronghold of Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Reuters report said that on being asked about the same, the Israeli military said it does not respond to reports in the foreign media.
Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told MSNBC that Israel had not taken responsibility for this attack, but "whoever did it, it must be clear: That this was not attack an attack on the Lebanese state."
"Whoever did this did a surgical strike against theHamasleadership,” Regev told MSNBC in an interview.
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Hamas has slammed the killing, stating that Arouri's death will not "undermine the continued brave resistance" in Gaza amid the ongoing war against Israeli forces.
"It proves once more the utter failure of the enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip," senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.
Lebanon condemns the killing
Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the incident, saying the attack "aims to draw Lebanon" further into the Israel-Hamas war.
His office said in a statement, "Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the explosion in the southern suburbs of Beirut that killed and injured many."
The attack "aims to draw Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations" with Israel.
This comes when Hezbollah has been exchanging daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
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Who was Saleh al-Arouri?
Arouri was the deputy chairman of Hamas's political bureau and Hamas's military commander of the West Bank. He was a founding commander of its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Last year, the US had offered $5 million for information on him.
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
(With inputs from agencies)