Hamas confirmed on Tuesday that its co-founder and deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri had been killed in a suspected Israeli drone attack in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Al-Arouri and at least three others were killed in the strike, Hamas said in a statement.
While Israel has not officially commented on the strike, Israeli politician and former diplomat Danny Danon took to X to commend the country’s military and intelligence services.
He wrote: “I congratulate the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Mossad and the security forces for killing senior Hamas official Salah al-Aaruri in Beirut.
“Anyone who was involved in the 7/10 massacre should know that we will reach out to them and close an account with them.”
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First Offensive Outside Gaza
Israel had said it would find all Hamas leaders involved in the October 7 attacks, in which more than 1,000 people were killed and around 250 hostages taken.
If confirmed by Israel, it would mark the first offensive of the conflict conducted outside the Gaza Strip and raises the risk of escalation should Hezbollah — the Shia Islamist party and militant group in Lebanon — and its allies be drawn in.
Allies of Hezbollah, such as Iran and Syria, have been involved in regional conflicts, with Iran backing Yemeni Houthi rebels in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a response to Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Iran said it had dispatched a warship to the Red Sea in response to the U.S. naval presence there.
Market Reaction
Oil prices, which are sensitive to geopolitical events in the Middle East, initially responded with gains during morning trade, with both Brent Crude and Nymex WTI adding around 2%.
“Heightened tensions in the Red Sea — where US military intervention over the weekend prevented a Houthi attack on a container ship — and Iran sending a destroyer to the region provoked an initial 2% rise in the oil price,” said Axel Rudolph, strategist at IG.
By the time news of the attack in Beirut, however, oil prices had fallen and were down 2%. The United States Oil Fund USO was down 1.1% in late afternoon trade.
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