Israel has insisted the assassination of a Hamas leader in Beirut was not an attack on Lebanon, as its enemies warned of “punishment” for his death.
An Israeli spokesman said Saleh al-Arouri had died in a “surgical strike against the Hamas leadership”.
Hamas condemned the death, while its ally Hezbollah said it was an assault on Lebanese sovereignty.
Lebanon’s prime minister, meanwhile, accused Israel of trying “to drag Lebanon into… confrontation”.
Lebanese media report that Arouri, a deputy political leader of Hamas, was killed in a drone strike in southern Beirut along with six others – two Hamas military commanders and four other members.
He was a key figure in the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, and a close ally of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader. He had been in Lebanon acting as a connection between his group and Hezbollah.
