Reuters. Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday night (January 2) in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, three security sources told Reuters.
In response to questions from Reuters, the Israeli military said it does not respond to reports in the foreign media.
Al-Arouri was a senior official in Hamas and was also one of the founders of its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, which carried out a deadly assault in Israeli territory on Oct. 7. The U.S. had last year offered $5 million for information on him.
Hamas confirmed al-Arouri's killing via the affiliated Al-Aqsa radio. Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Sharq said it was a "cowardly assassination."
The Israeli drone struck a Hamas office in Dahiyeh on Tuesday night, leaving a total of six people dead, Lebanon's state news agency reported. Security sources and medics could not immediately identify the other three killed.