Hamas’s terrorist leadership suffered its biggest blow since the October 7 massacre on Tuesday as its deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike in Beirut, Lebanon.
Al-Arouri, among the key planners of the October 7 attacks, was operating from a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, news reports suggest. The slain terrorist is second only to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who is believed to be hiding in Qatar.
“Both an apartment and a vehicle were reportedly targeted in the area. The strike was carried out by two drones, according to Lebanese media,” the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday evening. “After the strike, Israeli fighter jets were spotted over Beirut and Khalde, along with other areas throughout Lebanon.”
“An explosion shook the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs on Tuesday evening causing chaos in Hezbollah’s stronghold, but the nature of the blast was not immediately known,” the UK-based Sky News TV channel reported earlier.
While Israel didn’t comment on the terrorist leader’s killing, Hamas and Hezbollah confirmed his death. “Hamas official Bassem Naim has confirmed al Arouri was killed in the blast. A Hezbollah official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations also said al Arouri was killed,” the British news outlet added.
Reuters reported the alleged Israeli strike:
Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday night in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, three security sources told Reuters.In response to questions from Reuters, the Israeli military said it does not respond to reports in the foreign media.Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told MSNBC that Israel had not taken responsibility for this attack, but “whoever did it, it must be clear: That this was not attack an attack on the Lebanese state.””Whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership,” Regev told MSNBC in an interview.Arouri was a senior official in Hamas’s politburo and was also one of the founders of its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, which carried out a deadly assault in Israeli territory on Oct. 7. The U.S. had last year offered $5 million for information on him.
Israeli security services are gearing up for retaliatory terror attacks. Last week, a bomb exploded outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi following the killing of Razi Mousavi, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) terrorist group, in a supposed Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria.
“Israel is anticipating a response to the alleged assassination of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon, according to Hebrew-language media reports,” The Times of Israel reported. “The Walla news site and Channel 13 news say that Israel expects a retaliation, including possible long-range rocket fire on Israel.”
The New Year in Gaza began with renewed efforts by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to flush Hamas out of the terrorist-infested territory. IDF soldiers captured a major Hamas command and control center, known as the ‘Eastern Outpost,’ hitting at the terrorist group’s ability to direct attacks against Israeli troops operating in the area.
The Eastern Outpost, consisting of a vast tunnel system, is the second such underground complex taken by the Israeli military since it destroyed Hamas’ so-called ‘military quarter’ located near the Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the Israeli media noted.
“After the Hamas intelligence center found near the Gaza City military quarter, this intelligence center is considered the most important in northern Gaza, including 37 structures, a vast tunnel network dropping 20 meters underground, three tunnel elevators, extensive stairs, and blast doors,” the Jerusalem Post reported. The Hamas “complex included a diverse array of communications platforms which allowed directing the war with Hamas forces both in northern and southern Gaza as opposed to other command center positions focused merely on a specific more narrow area.”
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported the significance of the latest IDF success:
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took control of a key Hamas stronghold in Gaza, termed the “Eastern Outpost,” that has been used as an intelligence command center, as well as for controlling terrorist units on the ground, according to a statement released on Tuesday.Captain Yaron Eliezer Chitiz, Staff sergeant Efraim Yachman, and Staff sergeant Itay Buton, all from the IDF’s 52nd Givati Brigade, were killed during operational activity at the Eastern Outpost in Gaza.The Eastern Outpost was described as a strategic center of the terrorist organization Hamas, located in Gaza City, with operation rooms used to manage the fighting in the entire Gaza Strip.Hamas established the stronghold of 37 buildings in the heart of a civilian population, within the vicinity of residential buildings, schools and hospitals.During the IDF activity, an underground control bunker used by Hamas was also found. According to their findings, the terrorist organization’s commanders had been hiding out there while conducting the fighting in the Gaza Strip.At a depth of about 66 feet, the underground complex included a large operations room and long-term living spaces that belonged to the commanders of Hamas’s military wing. During the raids, the IDF found weapons and media in the bunker.
The Israeli soldiers also located and destroyed a Hamas weapons lab in central Gaza. “In the center of the Strip, combat soldiers from Brigade 646 located a laboratory used for the production of weapons, launch pits, and long-range rocket launchers. The launchers were destroyed by engineering forces,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
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