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 Keeps Vow to Target Terror Group’s Leaders

Edited by: Fern Sidman

An apparent Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed Hamas’ second-highest ranking political leader Tuesday, marking a potential escalation of Israel’s war against the Iranian-backed terrorist group and heightening the risk of a wider regional conflict in the Middle East, as was reported by the Associated Press. Five others were also killed in the airstrike.

Saleh Al-Arouri, who was the most senior Hamas figure killed since the war with Israel began, was also a founder of the group’s military wing. As was indicated in the AP report, his death could provoke major retaliation by Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia.

The strike hit an apartment in a building in a Shiite district of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold, and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of the terror group’s officials in Lebanon.

According to a report on the Israel National News web site on Tuesday,  Al-Arouri was responsible for terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria.  He was also  the deputy of Hamas’ supreme political leader, Ismail Haniyeh in addition to being a key liaison with Hezbollah.  Moreover, he once admitted Hamas’ responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014.

Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed to The Associated Press that Arouri was killed.

Known for spearheading the “convergence of the arenas” strategy, Al-Arouri aimed to bridge the divide between the West Bank and Gaza while fostering collaboration with Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah, as was reported on the i24News.com web site on Tuesday.

Born in Bani Zeid, Ramallah, Al-Arouri’s influence spanned the founding of the notorious Al-Qassam Brigades, where he earned him the moniker of “the engineer of the battlefield unit.”

The i24News report also said that his legacy was shaped by over 15 years in Israeli prisons, marked by accusations of managing and financing Hamas’ military operations, earning him a $5 million U.S. bounty. He also acted as a spokesperson for Hamas on prisoner affairs.

Al-Arouri’s exile journey took him through Syria, Turkey, Qatar, and Malaysia, ultimately settling in Lebanon’s southern suburbs, as was also reported by i24News.com

The blast occurred while al-Arouri was reportedly in a meeting with other terrorist operatives from Hamas and Hezbollah. According to reports, one of the operatives who was killed in the strike together with al-Arouri was Khalil al-Hayya, a senior member of the Hamas political wing.

According to the information provided in the AP report, Israel claims to have killed a number of mid-level Hamas leaders in Gaza, but this would be the first time it has reached into another country to target the group’s senior leaders, many of whom live in exile around the region.

The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, reacted to the assassination and said: “The explosion in Dahieh is an Israeli crime aimed at dragging Lebanon into a new phase of conflict. It casts a shadow on Lebanon and is a clear response to our efforts to distance the fighting spirit in Gaza from Lebanon.”

Earlier on Tuesday,  two anti-tank missiles struck the town of Shlomi in northern Israel. One missile exploded near a high-rise building and caused property damage, the INN report said.

INN also reported that Gabi Naaman, the mayor of Shlomi said: “This is a very serious incident and miraculously no physical damage was caused to the residents. The attack this morning illustrates the great danger of the current situation for the residents of Shlomi. We will not agree to live in this situation.”

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began nearly three months ago, as was noted in the AP report. But so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting. A significant response now could send the conflict spiraling into all-out war on Israel’s northern border.

Since the Gaza conflict began, Lebanese have feared their country could be pulled into a full-fledged war, as was mentioned in the AP report. Hezbollah and Israel fought a month long war in 2006, when Israeli bombardment wreaked heavy destruction in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strike was carried out by an Israeli drone, and Israeli officials declined to comment.  Speaking to reporters, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not directly mention Arouri’s death but said, “We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas,” according to the AP report. “We are on high readiness for any scenario,” he added.

The targeted strike comes ahead of a visit to the region by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, even as the United States has tried to prevent a spread of the conflict, repeatedly warning Hezbollah — and its regional supporter, Iran — not to escalate the violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the ground and air assault in Gaza until Hamas is crushed and the more than 100 hostages still held by the terror group in Gaza are freed, which he has said could take several more months, as was indicated in the AP report. At the same time, Israeli officials have increasingly warned in recent days of stepped-up action against Hezbollah unless its cross-border fire stops.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to kill Hamas leaders wherever they are. The group’s October 7 attack from Gaza on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage.

Israel announced Monday that it would withdraw five brigades, or several thousand troops, from Gaza in the coming weeks, as was reported by the AP.  Still, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said it would be a mistake to think that Israel is planning on halting the war. “The feeling that we will stop soon is incorrect,” he said Tuesday, the AP reported. “Without a clear victory, we will not be able to live in the Middle East.”

Israel has said it’s close to achieving operational control over most of northern Gaza, where ground troops have been battling Hamas terrorists for over two months. The AP report did note that Gallant said several thousand Hamas fighters are believed to still be in the north, and residents reported clashes in several parts of Gaza City, as well as in the nearby urban Jabaliya refugee camp.

Fierce fighting has continued in other areas of Gaza, especially the south, where many of Hamas’ forces remain intact and where most of Gaza’s population has fled.

The AP report said that residents of Gaza reported heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling in the southern city of Khan Younis and farming areas to the east.

Fighting was also underway in and around the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. According to the AP report, the army issued evacuation orders to people living in parts of nearby Nuseirat camp. A strike Tuesday leveled a building in Nuseirat, killing at least eight people, according to officials at the nearby hospital.

In many civilian homes in El Bureij, the IDF’s 188th Brigade and the Golani Brigade discovered weapons, rockets, dozens of shoulder-fired missiles, grenades, tunnel shafts, and intelligence materials belonging to the Hamas terror organization, as was reported by INN. The Golani combat team’s targeted raid was directed by precise intelligence.

During the forces’ scans of the area, long-range (20-kilometer range) rockets were found in a family home. Additionally, in the family home, the forces discovered weapons that were used by Hamas. According to the INN report, the rockets were destroyed and the weapons were confiscated.

Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF reported that the 401st Brigade had conducted a targeted raid on the central building of the Eastern Military Post in Gaza City, according to the INN repory. The Eastern Military Post is a strategic stronghold of Hamas in Gaza City, in which there were operational command and control rooms.

INN also reported that this terrorist stronghold, which includes 37 buildings, is located in the heart of Gaza’s civilian population, near hospitals, schools, and civilian homes.

Moreover, INN reported that the IDF cleared for publication on Tuesday that First Sergeant Sufian Dagash fell in battle in Gaza. His family has been notified of his passing.

Dagash, 21, was a resident of the city of Maghar in northern Israel. He served in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, as was noted in the INN report.  Three other soldiers from the 601st Engineering Battalion and 401st Brigade were seriously injured in the battle in northern Gaza in which Sgt. Dagash fell. In addition, two soldiers were seriously injured in battles in central Gaza.

In other developments, INN reported that on Sunday Hamas forwarded to Israel, through the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, a proposal for the release of hostages which includes, in the implementation of the first phase of the agreement, an Israeli withdrawal from areas in the Gaza Strip that Israel has taken over, as was indicated in a report on Monday on the Walla! web site.

A senior Israeli official who was privy to the details said that Israel refused the offer, as the demand for an Israeli withdrawal was only one of several demands that, from Israel’s point of view, are unacceptable.

Alongside this, Hamas is demanding that in the final stage of the agreement, Israel declare a permanent ceasefire and an end to the war, the INN report said.

The proposal, according to the report, was discussed in the War Cabinet and rejected.

As part of the proposed agreement, 40 hostages will be released, including women, men over the age of 60 and hostages who are in serious medical condition. INN also reported that the Israeli official added, “The Hamas proposal that arrived yesterday was not in the right direction and the mediators were sent to produce a more normal proposal.  They went to work and we’ll see what comes out of it. We’re in the early stages. The negotiations are no longer stuck, but they’re still not moving forward either.”

As was also indicated in the INN report, Prime Minister Netanyahu met on Tuesday evening with families of the hostages held in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization.

“The effort to return the hostages continues, the contacts are taking place, they have not been cut off,” Netanyahu assured them. “There was an ultimatum from Hamas, now it has softened a bit,” he added.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the families of the hostages is being held currently at the Kirya in Tel Aviv.

In an interview with INN, Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of Omer Neutra, who is being held hostage in Gaza,  spoke about their ordeal since their son was taken captive.

Orna recounted how they first found out about Omer being taken: “He was defending the kibbutzim in the south. We thought ‘he is on active duty, maybe he is just too busy to answer’, but as the hours went by with no sign from him, we knew something was really wrong. By Sunday night, we had notice from the consulate that he had been kidnapped,”  the INN report said.

According to the INN report, Orna said the couple are both hoping and working to see Omer alive again. “We have no choice but to hope that he is alive. From the first day, we were driven to action. We immediately drafted a letter to the US government, notifying them of the situation and requesting their action. Since then, we have been doing everything we can to help get him back. We are his soldiers now.”