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Top Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri reportedly died in the explosion
Photo: Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images
Top Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri was reportedly killed in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. As the Washington Post and the news portal Axios now report, citing US security officials, Israel is said to have carried out the attack on al-Arouri. It is currently being investigated whether al-Arouri was actually killed in the attack.
Earlier, the terrorist organization Hamas had already blamed Israel for the alleged killing of the deputy head of its Politburo. Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike, the Islamist organization claims. Israel's military does not want to comment on the reports of al-Arouri's death at this time.
The adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev, told the US television channel MSNBC that Israel had not claimed responsibility for the attack. "But whoever did it, it must be clear – this was not an attack on the Lebanese state," Regev said. "It was a surgical blow to the Hamas leadership."
Report: Qassam Commanders Killed
Al-Arouri was a member of Hamas' leadership and a co-founder of Hamas' military-terrorist wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In addition to al-Arouri, two commanders of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Samir Findi Abu Amer and Assam Al-Akraa Abu Ammar, were reportedly killed in the explosion in Beirut. This was reported by the Hamas channel Al-Aqsa TV in the short message service Telegram.
According to Hamas and police sources, the explosion occurred in front of a Hamas office in a southern Beirut neighborhood where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Videos after the explosion in Beirut showed at least one burning car near a busy street. Ambulance sirens could also be heard. White smoke rose over the area.
Al-Arouri was considered the mastermind behind numerous attacks in the West Bank. The 57-year-old was also born in the city of Hebron. He had spent years in Israeli prisons and spoke excellent Hebrew. After stints in Damascus and Qatar, Arouri most recently lived in exile in Beirut. From there, he also spoke out at the beginning of the war and gave an interview to the Qatari-funded TV channel Al Jazeera – and denied that Hamas had committed war crimes in the kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip. Israel's response: Security forces destroyed his home near Ramallah.
ptz/Reuters