Israeli drone strike kills four Hamas members at terror group’s Beirut office – including
An Israeli drone strike on Hamas‘ office in Beirut, Lebanon, has killed four people, including the terror group’s deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri, local media has reported.
‘Four people were martyred and a number of others injured when the Hamas office was targeted,’ in Dahiyeh, an area in Beirut’s southern suburbs and a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said.
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 burning on a nearby street, which is covered in dust and rubble. Sirens can be heard wailing, and several cars can be seen with their windows broken in.
Parents were seen holding their children tightly as they try and navigate the destroyed suburb.
The exact death toll, and the number of people injured in the attack, for which no one has yet officially claimed responsibility, is not currently known, but sources have claimed that top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing, was killed in the blast. Hamas added that two Qassam Brigade commanders were also killed in the blast.
People search for survivors inside an apartment following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon
An Israeli drone strike on Hamas’ office in Beirut, Lebanon, has killed four people, including the terror group’s deputy political leader
The office was located in Dahiyeh, an area in Beirut’s southern suburbs and a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah
A huge fire was seen roaring in the street, following the drone strike
al-Arouri, 57, was the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, and was considered the de facto leader of the organisation’s military wing
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference in November that he had ‘instructed the Mossad to act against the heads of Hamas wherever they are,’ following the terror group’s incursion on October 7 that left 1,200 people, mostly civilians, dead.
al-Arouri, 57, was the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, and was considered the de facto leader of the organisation’s military wing.
He is believed to have planned and helped execute the 2014 kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teenagers, Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel, along with several other attacks.
The political leader has been behind bars in Israel on several occasions, and was released in March 2010 as part of efforts to obtain a broader prisoner swap in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an IDF corporal kidnapped by Hamas in 2006.
al-Arouri was later involved in a deal that saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for the corporal.
Lebanese media reported that, according to sources in Islamic Jihad, the secretary general of the movement, Ziyad al-Nakhala, was not harmed in the strike.
The explosion in Beirut came following more than two months of heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern border.
Since the fighting began the day after Black Saturday, conflict has been concentrated a few miles from the border but on several occasions Israel’s air force hit Hezbollah targets deeper in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said its fighters carried out several attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border targeting Israeli military posts.
The explosion came during more than two months of heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern border
People search for survivors following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon
Clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have already displaced tens of thousands of people
Clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have already displaced tens of thousands of people, despite previous claims from Israel that it did not want to wage war with its neighbour.
But just last month, senior member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet Benny Gantz said that the situation on Israel’s border with Lebanon ‘must change’, hinting at an escalation with Hezbollah.
In November, Israel‘s minister for defence Yoav Gallant said, referring to Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah: ‘If you hear that we have attacked Beirut, you will understand that Nasrallah has crossed that line.’
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.