caption,
Salah alArouri was vice president of Hamas's political office and founder of the group's military wing
2 hours ago
Salah alArouri, vice president of Hamas' political office and founder of the Palestinian group's military wing, died this Tuesday (January 2) in an explosion in the south of Beirut, capital of Lebanon, the Palestinian group confirmed.
The explosion, which killed five other people, occurred in the Dahiyeh district.
Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, has close ties to Hezbollah, a Lebanese group backed by Iran that has a large presence in the neighborhood where the explosion occurred.
The Israeli military told the BBC it would not comment on foreign media reports linking the explosion to possible Israeli attacks.
Mark Regev, a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the explosion was the result of a “surgical strike” against Hamas.
However, in an interview with the American broadcaster MSNBC, Regev did not blame Israel for the perpetrator of the attack.
“Whoever did this must make it clear that it was not an attack on the state of Lebanon,” he said. “Whoever did this carried out a surgical strike against Hamas.”
Nevertheless, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the explosion “a crime” that “aims to drag Lebanon into a new phase of confrontation with Israel.”
Salah al Arouri, 57, was vice president of Hamas' political office and commander and founder of the AlQassam Brigades, the group's military wing.
He was involved in a deal that released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier in 2006.
AlArouri joined Hamas in 1987, led the Islamic student movement and helped establish the group's military presence in the West Bank.
caption,
The explosion, which killed more people, occurred in the Dahiyeh district
caption,
Property was damaged in Tuesday's explosion
Escalation of the conflict
This Tuesday's episode comes amid an escalation in fighting between Israeli forces and the Lebanese group Hezbollah on the IsraelLebanon border since October 7.
On that day, Hamas launched an attack on Israeli territory that left 1,200 people dead and led to Israel launching a largescale military operation in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 20,000 people so far.
Late last month, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israeli forces would take steps to expel Hezbollah from the border if the group's attacks continued.
Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by Western countries, Israel, the Arab Gulf states and the Arab League.
It is financed by Iran and is one of the most heavily armed nonstate militaries in the world.