Hamas leader killed in Lebanon by Israeli fighter jet, not drone: Israeli media

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in a strike by an Israeli warplane in Lebanon, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

Lebanese media earlier reported that Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a Hamas office in Beirut’s southern neighborhood Tuesday evening.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, citing an Israeli security source, said Arouri was killed by six guided missiles fired from an Israeli fighter jet.

The daily also quoted an unnamed Lebanese security official as saying that six guided missiles were fired, two of which hit the building where Arouri was residing.

"Each missile weighed 100 kilograms," the newspaper said.

Arouri was the highest Hamas leader to have been killed by Israel since the outbreak of the conflict in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 22,313 Palestinians have since been killed and 57,296 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar