Saleh al-Arouri in Cairo, Egypt, October 12, 2017. [AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty]
Israel’s far-right government carried out the assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Tuesday. This brazen act of aggression increases the danger of an escalation of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza into a region-wide war, for which US imperialism and its European imperialist allies have long been preparing.
Al-Arouri, reportedly Hamas’ closest link with Hizballah in Lebanon and Iran, was targeted in a suspected drone strike on an apartment building where he was meeting secretly with other senior Hamas officials in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh. Among the seven casualties were two commanders of the Qasem Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, Samir Findi and Azzam al-Aqraa. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh announced that the assassination meant a halt to negotiations with Israel over the release of the hostages remaining in Gaza.
Following the common practice in its long list of previous assassinations, Israel did not officially claim responsibility for the strike. An anonymous US Defence Department official speaking to the Washington Post said Israel was responsible for the assassination. The US State Department confirmed that a planned trip by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Israel later this week will be delayed until the beginning of next week, underscoring that Washington intends to determine Israel’s next steps in the conflict.
Responding to the assassination, Hizbollah reportedly fired missiles towards Israel’s northern border late Tuesday. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured.
Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated in an August 2023 speech that any Israeli assassination on Lebanese territory would result in a “decisive response” to prevent Lebanon from becoming “a new killing field for Israel.” A statement from the militant group following al-Arouri’s killing vowed that it would not “pass without response or punishment.”