Hezbollah warns retaliation after Israeli strike kills senior Hamas leader as war threatens to escalate
The 57-year-old Saleh al-Arouri became the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel attacked Gaza in a devastating campaign. If Israel is found behind the attack it could mark a major escalation in the Middle East conflict, taking it beyond the Gaza Strip.
Reacting to senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri's death in an Israeli strike in Beirut, the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah warned on Tuesday that the "crime would not go unpunished" as it launched several cross-border attacks on northern Israel. Hezbollah, which has repeatedly attacked Israel since the outbreak of war on October 8, made the remarks as the war threatens to escalate beyond the Gaza Strip.
"We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment," The Times of Israel quoted Hezbollah's statement, which added that its fighters are at heightened readiness to retaliate. Hezbollah caused the Israeli strike as a "serious assault on Lebanon, its people, its security and its sovereignty… and a dangerous development in the course of the war between the enemy and the axis of resistance.”
"The criminal enemy — which after ninety days of crime, killing and destruction was unable to subjugate Gaza — is resorting to a policy of assassination… of… whoever planned, carried out or supported," further said the group, adding that such killing would only increase Palestinian resistance to Israel. It also took responsibility for missile and drone attacks on northern Israel, four after Arouri was assassinated.
Meanwhile, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the military was ready to deal with any development, following threats from Hamas and Hezbollah. "The IDF is at a very high level of readiness, in all arenas, in defense and offense. We are in a high state of readiness for any scenario," he said.
Arouri's death
Arouri was killed in an explosion caused by an alleged Israeli strike in Beirut, officials with Hamas and Hezbollah said on Tuesday. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the blast killed four people and was carried out by an Israeli drone.
Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed to The Associated Press that Arouri was killed in the blast. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to retaliate against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.
Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing, had headed the group’s presence in the West Bank. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israel war began on October 7. A former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, praised the Israeli security and intelligence agencies for what he said was the “assassination” of Arouri on Tuesday, CNN reported.
The 57-year-old Arouri has become the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel launched a shattering air and ground offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers almost three months ago after the group's shock rampage into Israeli towns.
Israel has long accused Arouri of lethal attacks on its citizens, but a Hamas official said he was also "at the heart of negotiations" conducted by Qatar and Egypt over the outcome of the Gaza war and the release of Hamas-held Israeli hostages.
"I am waiting for martyrdom (death) and I think I have lived too long," Arouri said in August 2023, alluding to Israeli threats to eliminate Hamas leaders whether in Gaza or abroad.
Hamas' response
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh declared the Gaza-ruling terror group would not be deterred after his deputy Arouri was killed. "A movement whose leaders and founders fall as martyrs for the dignity of our people and our nation will never be defeated,” said Haniyeh, one of the top targets for Israel, in a televised address.
Haniyeh further vowed that the targeted killing would increase Hamas’ “strength, toughness, and unyielding determination". Hamas called the attack a "cowardly assassination operation, carried out by the Zionist enemy, in a barbaric aggression and a heinous crime.” Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah and other towns in the West Bank to condemn Arouri's killing, chanting, "Revenge, revenge, Qassam!"
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati issued a statement condemning the killing of Arouri, which he called a “new Israeli crime” and accused Jerusalem of seeking to drag Beirut into a new phase of confrontations. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned Israel’s “despicable” killing of Arouri.
Hezbollah has named 138 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. On the other hand, four Israeli civilians and nine IDF soldiers have been killed in the skirmishes on Israel's border with Lebanon.
Ceasefire negotiations
In the meantime, Haniyeh, who is also based outside Gaza, said the movement had delivered its response to an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal. He reiterated that Hamas' conditions entailed "a complete cessation" of Israel's offensive in exchange for further release of hostages.
Israel believes that 129 hostages remain in Gaza after some were released during a brief truce in late November and others were killed during air strikes and rescue or escape attempts. Over 100 hostages were released during a weeklong truce between the warring parties in late November.
The Gaza health ministry said 207 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recorded Palestinian death toll to 22,185 in nearly three months of war in Gaza.
(with inputs from agencies)
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