Deputy head of Hamas politburo assassinated in Israeli strike

Saleh al-Arouri was martyred as a result of an explosion in a building in al-Musharrafieh district in southern Beirut.

Hamas confirmed the martyrdom of Arouri as the chief of staff of the resistance movement in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip, praising him as the “architect” of Operation al-Aqsa Storm.

Hamas vowed in a statement that the martyreng of the resistance movement’s deputy will not "undermine the continued brave resistance" in Gaza.

"It proves once more the utter failure of the enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip," Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, said in the statement.

The Zionist regime launched its devastating war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the territory’s Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

The Zionist regime’s military has also been carrying out attacks against the Lebanese territory since then, prompting retaliatory strikes from Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The relentless Israeli military campaign against Gaza has martyred more than 22,000 people, most of them women and children. At least 57,000 individuals have also been wounded.

The regime has largely cut off access to water, food and power supplies to Gaza.