Hamas Leader Assassinated by an Israeli Drone Strike in Beirut

January 2, 2024 Hour: 1:02 pm

On Tuesday, Israel launched a drone strike against an office of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, leaving at least four people dead and several others injured, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (ANN).

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The facilities attacked are located in the Msharafiye area, adjacent to the capital and where several ambulances have traveled to transport the victims.

Hezbollah’s TV station said that Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy chief of Hamas political bureau in Beirut, was killed.

A military source confirmed that an explosion shook the Beirutian suburbs this afternoon, without specifying the causes, while another source close to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah referred to the event as a “murder.”

This footage is circulating on social media showing the aftermath of the explosion in the southern suburb of #Beirut, where the Deputy Chief of H-am-as’ Political Bureau Sa-leh al-Ar-ouri was martyred.#Lebanon pic.twitter.com/pNVQRJUWHG

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish)
January 2, 2024

The Shiite movement controls most of the neighborhoods south of the capital, an area that represents one of its main strongholds in Lebanon and had not been attacked since the war it waged against Israel in the summer of 2006.

In response to the Israeli offensive unleashed against Gaza on October 8, Hezbollah is engaged in intense crossfire with Zionist forces from its side of the border, although until now the violence has been limited to a 50-kilometer radius of the divider.

The border outbreak, the worst in 17 years, has raised fears that Lebanon will become a second front in the Gaza war, a scenario for which the Lebanese government has been preparing for over two months with a plan to emergency at various levels.

#ENVIDEO | Citizens of Lebanon demonstrate for justice on the third anniversary of the devastating explosion in Beirut that left 220 dead and 6 500 injured. pic.twitter.com/x371R6Z5KA

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
August 5, 2023