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An Israeli drone struck a Hamas political office in south Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding three others, according to Lebanese state media.
Hizbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant movement, told the Financial Times that one of the dead was Hamas’s deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri.
If confirmed as an Israeli strike, it would mark the first such targeted attack against a Hamas leader outside of Palestinian territories since the militant group’s October 7 assault.
The strike and al-Arouri’s death would heighten tensions across the region and risk a further escalation between Hizbollah and Israel, which have traded daily exchanges of fire since October 7.
A veteran member of Hamas, al-Arouri helped establish the group’s military wing in the occupied West Bank.