Hamas deputy chief killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon, Hezbollah threatens consequences
AFP. A high-level security official told the agency that the leader was killed along with his bodyguards in the strike by Israel, which vowed to destroy Hamas after the movement's unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel. Israel has previously announced the killing in Gaza of Hamas commanders and officials during the war, but Aruri is the most high-profile figure to be killed, and his death came in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since hostilities began.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari did not directly comment on Aruri's killing but said the military was "highly prepared for any scenario" in its aftermath. A second security official in Lebanon confirmed the information about Aruri's killing. Lebanese state media reported the strike hit a Hamas office in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, a Hamas ally.
Hamas TV also said Israel had killed Aruri in Lebanon, and Lebanese media reported a total of seven people were killed in the attack by an Israeli drone. The strike fuels common concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has been going on for almost three months, would expand to other parts of the area. Reacting to Azuri's assassination, Hamas declared that the murder would not lead to its downfall, and Hezbollah promised that Aruri's assassination would not go "unpunished".
Hezbollah described it as "a serious assault on Lebanon... and a dangerous development in the course of the war." As per AFP report, Najib Mikati, the prime minister of Lebanon, condemned the murder and claimed it "aims to draw Lebanon" more into the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Following the incident, French President Emmanuel Macron advised Israel to "avoid any escalatory
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