Hamas Confirms the Death of Saleh al Arouri, Its No. 2 Leader In A Drone Attack In The Capital of Lebanon

The number two in the political office of Hamas, Saleh al Arouri, died this Tuesday due to the bombing of an Israeli drone against an office of the Palestinian Islamist movement on the outskirts of Beirut, where five other people also died, reported the National Agency for Lebanon News (ANN).

“The hostile attack that targeted the Hamas office , where a meeting of Palestinian factions was being held, caused the death of senior Hamas official in the West Bank Saleh al Arouri,” said the state media, which also confirmed the existence of several wounded. At the moment the identity of the rest of the victims and whether they were also part of the Islamist movement are unknown.

At least two Israeli projectiles hit an office of the Palestinian movement in the Msharafiye area, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and vehicles that were parked in front of them on Tuesday afternoon.

Al Arouri, a member of Hamas’ political office and one of the founders of its armed wing, was one of the most prominent exiled leaders of the group , which has several representatives in Lebanon as well as other countries in the region.

Hamas condemns murder

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas confirmed the death this Tuesday of the number two in its political office, Saleh al Arouri, in a statement in which it blames “the Zionist occupation”, in reference to Israel, for ” cowardly” murdering Palestinian leaders. inside and outside Palestine”.

The Palestinian Islamist group said that the bombing of its office in Beirut “proves once again the complete failure of this enemy to achieve any of its belligerent objectives in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qasam Brigades, of which Saleh al-Arouri was a co-founder, promised “a response to all crimes” against the Palestinians . “They will not be able to break the will and resistance of our people,” he added in the statement. 

Likewise, he assured that Saleh al Arouri died “with great pride and honor” and stressed that “the assassination of leaders will not discourage us from our national duty to defend our people and only increases our determination to resist.”

Fear is unleashed that Lebanon will be a second front

The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah controls most of the neighborhoods south of the capital where the attack took place, an area that represents one of its main strongholds in the country and which had not been attacked since the war it waged against Israel in the summer. of 2006.

Since last October 8, within the framework of the war between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah has also been engaged in intense crossfire with Israeli forces from its side of the border, although until now the violence had been limited to a radius of 50 kilometers from the divide.

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 more than two months with a plan to emergency at various levels.