An explosion in Beirut, on Tuesday, killed Saleh Arouri, a top official of Hamas, the Palestinian fighters group, and three others, officials with Hamas and the Lebanese group Hezbollah said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the blast killed four people and that an Israeli drone triggered the blast. Israeli officials declined to comment.
If Israel is behind the attack it could mark a major escalation in the Middle East conflict.
Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, vowed to retaliate against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.
Hamas official, Bassem Naim, confirmed to The Associated Press that Arouri died in the blast.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, also said an Israeli drone killed Arouri.
Arouri is one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing. He had headed the group’s presence in the West Bank.
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israeli war began on Oct. 7.
The explosion shook Musharafieh, one of the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs. Southern suburbs are a stronghold of the Hezbollah group, which is an ally of Hamas.
The explosion caused a fire in Hadi Nasrallah Street, south of Beirut.
It came during more than two months of heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern border.
Since it began, the fighting has concentrated in a few miles (kilometres) from the border. But on several occasions, Israel’s air force hit Hezbollah targets deeper in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said its fighters carried out several attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border, targeting Israeli military posts.
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