terrorist militia
Hamas deputy leader reportedly killed in Beirut explosion
People gather at the site of an explosion, which Lebanese media said was an attack on a Hamas office in a southern suburb of Beirut
© Anwar Amro / AFP
The deputy head of the Islamist Hamas’s political bureau, Saleh al-Aruri, is said to have died in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Hamas-affiliated media reports this.
Explosion in Beirut: Videos show burning car
The exact reasons behind the explosion initially remained unclear. “The vice-president of the Hamas political bureau, Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri, was martyred in a Zionist attack in Beirut,” Hamas announced on its official television channel, al-Aqsa TV, and its other media. Israel’s military did not want to comment on the reports when asked by DPA.
Saleh al-Aruri was killed along with his bodyguards in the attack on the Hamas office south of Beirut, a senior security official told the AFP news agency on Tuesday. Shortly afterwards, the Hamas TV station reported the “murder” of Al-Arouri. Videos following the explosion in Beirut showed at least one car burning near a busy street. Ambulance sirens could also be heard. White smoke rose over the area.
Al-Aruri was considered the head of Hamas’s military wing in the West Bank
Al-Aruri, whom Israel saw as the mastermind of attacks in the West Bank, had long been considered a possible target for an attack. He was considered responsible for the activities of Hamas’s military wing in the West Bank. Israel and Hamas exchanged threats in the summer – even before their ongoing war began. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Al-Aruri “knows very well why he and his friends are in hiding.”
The explosion occurred on the eve of the third anniversary of the killing of General Ghassem Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The USA killed him in a drone strike in Iraq in 2020. Recently, senior Iranian general Sejed-Rasi Mousavi was killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria.