Officials have confirmed that an Israeli drone strike on the Hamas office in Beirut, Lebanon, killed four Hamas members, including the terror group's deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already threatened to kill al-Arouri, the organization's leader in the West Bank, before Hamas's bloody attack on October 7th. After tonight's attack, Israeli officials vowed that all Hamas leaders were “sentenced to death.”
Hamas condemned the killing as a “cowardly assassination” by Israel and said such attacks “will not result in breaking the will and fortitude of our people or undermining the continuation of their brave resistance.”
Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that “four people were martyred and several others were injured when the Hamas office was attacked.” The building is located in Dahiyeh, an area in Beirut's southern suburbs and a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, for his part, promised retaliation against any Israeli attacks on Palestinian officials in Lebanon.
Video footage of the aftermath of the strike, which took place at 5.45pm local time (3.45pm UK time) and reportedly targeted both the building and a nearby car, shows a large fire starting at a nearby building Street is burning, covered in dust and rubble. You can hear sirens wailing and see several cars with broken windows.
Parents were seen holding their children as they tried to navigate the devastated suburb.
The exact death toll and number of injured in the attack, for which no one has yet officially claimed responsibility, is currently unknown, but sources have claimed that senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri, one of Hamas's founders , military wing, was killed in the explosion. Hamas added that two Qassam Brigade commanders were also killed in the explosion.
People search for survivors in an apartment after a massive explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon
An Israeli drone strike on the Hamas office in Beirut, Lebanon, has killed four people, including the terror group's deputy political leader
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill al-Arouri (pictured), the leader of the organization in the West Bank
The office was in Dahiyeh, an area in Beirut's southern suburbs and a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah
After the drone attack, a huge fire could be seen on the street
al-Arouri, 57, was deputy head of Hamas' political bureau and was considered the de facto leader of the organization's military wing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference in November that he had “ordered the Mossad to take action against the leaders of Hamas wherever they are” after the terror group killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in its Oct. 7 incursion had.
al-Arouri, 57, was deputy head of Hamas' political bureau and was considered the de facto leader of the organization's military wing.
He is believed to have planned and participated in the 2014 kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teenagers Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel, as well as several other attacks.
The political leader was behind bars several times in Israel and was released in March 2010 as part of efforts to secure a broader prisoner swap in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an IDF sergeant kidnapped by Hamas in 2006.
Al-Arouri was later involved in a deal in which more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for the sergeant.
Lebanese media reported that, according to Islamic Jihad sources, the movement's secretary general, Ziyad al-Nakhala, was not injured in the attack.
The explosion in Beirut came after more than two months of intense gunfire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah members along Lebanon's southern border.
Since the fighting began the day after Black Saturday, the conflict has been concentrated just a few kilometers from the border, but the Israeli Air Force has repeatedly attacked Hezbollah targets deeper in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said its fighters had carried out several attacks on Israeli military posts along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
The blast came during more than two months of intense exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border
People search for survivors after a massive explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon
Clashes on the border between Israel and Lebanon have already displaced tens of thousands of people
Clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have already displaced tens of thousands of people, despite Israel previously claiming it did not want to go to war with its neighbor.
But just last month, Benny Gantz, a senior member of Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, said the situation on Israel's border with Lebanon “must change,” hinting at an escalation with Hezbollah.
In November, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, referring to Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah: “When you hear that we attacked Beirut, you will understand that Nasrallah has crossed this line.”
This is a breaking news story, more to come.