Senior Hamas leader killed in Beirut blast

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A senior Hamas leader has been killed in an explosion at one of the Palestinian militant group’s offices in Beirut, an attack that Lebanon has blamed on an Israeli drone strike. 

Hizbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant movement, told the Financial Times that one of the dead was Hamas’s deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri. Hamas also released a video of Arouri describing him as a “martyr”, apparently confirming his death.

In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of “cowardly assassinations” against its leaders, without naming Arouri, but said it would “not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people”.

Lebanese state media alleged that an Israeli drone struck Hamas’s office in southern Beirut — a Hizbollah stronghold — killing at least six people and wounding about a dozen others. It also said Palestinian factions had been meeting in the building that was hit.

Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati condemned the strike and called it “a new Israeli crime”.

If an Israeli strike is confirmed, it would mark the first targeted attack against a Hamas leader outside of Palestinian territories by the Jewish state since the militant group’s deadly October 7 assault on southern Israel. 

The strike and Arouri’s death would heighten tensions across the Middle East and risk a further escalation between Iran-backed Hizbollah and Israel, which have traded almost daily exchanges of fire since October 7. 

A veteran member of Hamas, Arouri helped establish the group’s military wing in the occupied West Bank. He had close ties to Hizbollah.

“The assassination of Arouri in the heart of Hizbollah’s zone in Beirut is a humiliation and a major test for Hizbollah,” said Emile Hokayem, director of regional security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank. “Will it risk a major war over a non-Lebanese commander? If it does not, can Hizbollah sustain the credibility of its deterrence?”

Israel did not immediately comment on the alleged drone strike. It usually neither confirms nor denies accusations that it has carried out an assassination. 

But in the wake of the October 7 attack, Israeli leaders and security chiefs have said no Hamas leader would be safe, both inside and outside the Palestinian territories.

Following the explosion in Beirut, Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich tweeted that all the country’s enemies “will perish”.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and eradicate it from the Gaza Strip in the wake of the October 7 assault that killed about 1,200 people. The militants also seized about 240 hostages, more than 100 of whom are still held in the besieged strip.

Israel responded by launching a ferocious air and land offensive on Gaza, which has killed more than 22,000 people, according to Palestinian officials.

It has also made clear its determination to kill or capture Hamas’s leadership in Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to have masterminded the October 7 attack.

However, Israel has also been negotiating indirectly with Hamas’s exiled political leadership in Qatar to secure agreement for the release of the hostages.

The Qataris, in co-ordination with the US and Egypt, last week submitted a broad “framework” to Israel and Hamas in a bid to persuade the warring parties to discuss a long-term truce, secure the release of all hostages and increase the delivery of humanitarian aid into the strip, a diplomat told the FT.

That process is likely to be scuppered by the blast in Beirut.

Israel has for decades carried out targeted assassinations against militant leaders in Europe and the Middle East, including via air strikes, commando raids and spy teams using poison.

Israeli leaders have taken pride in the long arm of their security and intelligence services, but analysts have questioned the strategic effectiveness of their operations.

The Beirut blast will fuel fears that the war risks triggering a broader conflagration, drawing in Iran-backed groups across the Middle East. The main focus of concern is on a full-blown conflict erupting between Israel and Hizbollah, which fought a 34-day war in 2006. 

So far, border clashes between Hizbollah fighters and Israeli forces have been contained within agreed red lines, but diplomats have warned that a miscalculation or a mistake could expand the conflict. 

Hizbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was scheduled to speak on Wednesday, in what would be his third public address since October 7. He has previously said that his group would react to any assassination of a Palestinian, Iranian or Arab figure inside Lebanon.