Israeli drone strike in Lebanon’s Beirut kills Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri: Source

An Israeli drone strike targeted and killed Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in the Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday night, a security source told Al Arabiya.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli strike killed at least three people and wounded several others in the strike against an office used by Hamas.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Local media also reported that two officials from Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades were with al-Arouri, who was the deputy leader of its political bureau.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the “new Israeli crime” that he said aimed to bring Beirut into a new phase of confrontation. “It has become clear to everyone near and far that the decision to go to war is in the hands of Israel, and what is needed is to deter this and stop [Israel’s] aggression,” he said in a post on X. Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border exchanges since October. Tuesday’s strike was the deepest Israeli attack on Lebanese soil since the recent round of fighting erupted.

Al-Arouri met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel to discuss the next steps Iran-backed militants should take at this “sensitive stage.”

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was previously scheduled to speak on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the killing of the head of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

In a televised appearance following the October 7 attack, Nasrallah warned that the targeting of any Lebanese or foreigners inside Lebanon would draw a “strong reaction” and that it would not be tolerated.

The US had a $5 million bounty on Saleh al-Arouri and designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2015.