Explosion in Beirut, Lebanon kills Hamas leader Saleh Arouri
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BEIRUT, NEW YORK — An explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, killing Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The explosion took place around 5:45 p.m. local time in the Mashrifiyah area in the Dahieh district, south of Beirut. Videos showed a large impact on cars and residential buildings.
Hamas confirmed that Arouri was killed in the explosion along with two leaders of its militant wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The Lebanese National News Agency later said that Arouri was killed in a strike targeting a meeting of Palestinian factions. Six others were killed, and 11 injured, NNA said.
استشهاد رئيس حركة حماس في الضفة الغربية صالح العروري pic.twitter.com/voUaMi3j9d
— حسين من الجنوب (@HaloEzrsil) January 2, 2024
The Washington Post quoted a Hezbollah spokesperson as saying that the headquarters of a Palestinian official was targeted in Dahieh, where Mashrifiyah is. The area also hosts Hezbollah’s headquarters.
The US Treasury Department added Arouri to its terrorism blacklist in 2015, and the State Department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on his whereabouts.
#BREAKING reports are that the explosion may have been caused by a drone attack – a residential building was impacted as well. No official confirmation of causes yet #Beirut #Beirutexplosion #Lebanon Videos via social media pic.twitter.com/K6ds8evH3D
— Maha Yahya (@mahamyahya) January 2, 2024
The explosion came as tension escalated on the border between Israel and Lebanon. Israel carried out strikes in Syria and Lebanon overnight on Tuesday that it said had targeted Hezbollah infrastructure.
The Israeli leadership declined any comment on the killing. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered cabinet ministers not to react to this news. Still, Likud Knesset member Danny Danon congratulated the security agencies for allegedly carrying out the attack. ”I congratulate the Israeli military, the Shin Bet, the Mossad and the security forces for killing senior Hamas official Salah al-Arouri in Beirut,” Danon wrote on X.
Israeli analysts qualified the killing as a game-changer: damaging significantly the backbone of Hamas leadership, and an indication that Israel appears to have taken off the gloves in all that relates to Hamas leaders at home and abroad.
Rina Bassist contributed to this report.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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