The Israeli army said it was “prepared for any scenario” after the killing of Hamas's number two in Lebanon, sparking fears that the war in Gaza would spark a regional conflagration.
The armed forces are “on high alert in all areas, both in defense and in attack. We are fully prepared for any scenario,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said, without commenting directly on Saleh’s killing of al Aruri, Hamas’ No. 2, which took place in Beirut on Tuesday.
Aruri died along with his security forces in a bombing raid by Israel, which vowed to destroy Hamas after that Islamist movement's Oct. 7 attacks, Lebanese sources and the Palestinian group itself said.
Israel has publicized the deaths of Hamas commanders and other Hamas officials in Gaza, but Aruri is the most highprofile figure to die, killed in the first shelling of the Lebanese capital since hostilities began.
The incident heightened fears that the nearly threemonth conflict between Israel and Hamas would spread across the region.
Aruri's death will not lead to the defeat of Hamas, “a movement whose leaders and founders fall as martyrs for the dignity of our people and our nation will never be defeated,” said its leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In Lebanon, the Shiite Hezbollah movement vowed revenge and described the attack as “a serious attack against Lebanon (…) and a dangerous event.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati declared that death was intended to “draw Lebanon to war.”
Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7 killed around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures. More than 300 soldiers were among the dead. According to Israeli authorities, the militants also took around 250 hostages, 129 of whom are still in captivity.
After the attack, Israel launched a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that left at least 22,185 people dead, most of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Attack on the Red Crescent
The Israeli army said its soldiers in Gaza killed “dozens of terrorists” in fighting on Tuesday and stormed a weapons depot in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
After the bombing of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, people rushed to rescue victims and recover bodies from the rubble.
“So far there are at least twelve martyrs, most of them children. What was her fault? One of them is my one month old son. “What did he do to Israel?” asked Ghazi Darwish. “My other son is five years old and also died a martyr,” he added.
Further south, in Khan Yunis, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Israel bombed its headquarters twice, leaving “five casualties and three injured” among the displaced people who sought refuge there and at a nearby hospital.
According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, attacks on Khan Yunis continued on Wednesday morning, causing “numerous” deaths.
The conflict has sparked a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, whose 2.4 million residents live under siege and mostly displaced in makeshift, overcrowded camps.
Amid looming starvation and disease due to a lack of aid, a British ship delivered 87 tons of aid to Gaza, the first delivery via a new maritime corridor from Cyprus.
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Risks and consequences
AFPTV footage from the occupied West Bank showed crowds on the streets of Ramallah protesting Aruri's death. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh warned of the “risks and consequences” of the attack.
A December attack in Syria blamed on Israel killed a senior foreign operations commander for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In this context, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, with the support of Iran, launched attacks against Israel and cargo ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Hamas. This prompted the United States to form a multinational force to protect the sea route.
Britain's maritime safety agency UKMTO reported explosions in the Bab elMandeb Strait between the coasts of Eritrea and Yemen, but did not report any damage or injuries. The French UN mission announced that the UN Security Council would discuss the Houthi attacks this Wednesday.