The Palestinian Hamas resistance group says Israel’s assassination of deputy head of Hamas politburo in Beirut once again confirms regime’s disgraceful failure in achieving its goals in the current war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a statement on Tuesday, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq stressed that the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri once again demonstrated the disgraceful failure of the Zionist enemy in achieving any of its objectives in its brutal war on the Palestinian enclave.
“Such cowardly assassinations by the Zionist regime against the leaders and symbols of the Palestinian people inside and outside of Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our nation and stopping their brave resistance,” al-Rishq emphasized.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that al-Arouri was killed as a result of an explosion in a building in al-Musharrafieh district in southern Beirut, Lebanon. Later, Hamas confirmed that al-Arouri was killed in Israel’s terror attack, which also killed several of his companions.
The resistance group said that al-Arouri’s assassination was an “expected Israeli crime” that would not stop resistance.
The Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of armed Palestinian resistance groups, also issued a statement, condemning the Israeli assassination of al-Arouri.
“The cowardly assassination crime against Sheikh Saleh and the leaders of the resistance will not weaken the strength of the resistance, but rather will inflame it in Palestine and on all fronts of confrontation with the Zionist enemy,” it said.
“The policy of assassinations pursued by the Zionist enemy against resistance leaders has proven its failure in undermining the resolve our people who yearn to liberate their land from the filth of the Zionist enemy, no matter how great the sacrifices are,” it added.
The committees also vowed to “avenge the blood” of the senior Hamas official.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, based in the occupied West Bank, also released a statement, promising that the assassination of al-Arouri and other resistance leaders will not go unanswered.
It said the cowardly act by the Israeli regime will only increase “our determination to resist and liberate” Palestinian lands.
Separately, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the “new Israeli crime”, stressing that it was aimed at bringing 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 added in a post on X.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 22,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 57,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
Since the onset of the war, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has launched strikes against Israeli targets in solidarity with the resilient Palestinian population in Gaza.
The Israeli regime has been waging sporadic attacks on southern Lebanon since October 7, but Tuesday’s drone strike marks the first time that the Tel Aviv regime has targeted the Lebanese capital since the 2006 war.
