Hamas has confirmed the death of one of its senior leaders, Saleh al-Arouri.
The 57-year-old was deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau and the founding commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing.
He was involved in a deal that saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners being released in exchange for an IDF corporal in 2011.
Al-Arouri was also closely connected with Iran and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon – a Shia Muslim organisation which is designated a terrorist organisation by Western states, Israel, Gulf Arab countries and the Arab League.
He joined Hamas in 1987, leading the Islamic student movement and helping establish the group’s military presence in the West Bank.
He had been based in Lebanon prior to his death.
Lebanese official state media now says the death toll from the explosion in southern Beirut has risen to six.
As we’ve been reporting, among the dead is the deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau Saleh al-Arouri.
It was reported earlier that four people had been killed.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called the explosion in the capital Beirut “a crime” which “aims to drag Lebanon into a new phase of confrontation with Israel”.
Mikati’s statement adds that “many” were injured and killed in the explosion.
As we’ve been reporting, fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon has been escalating since Hamas’s 7 October attacks, prompting concern the conflict in Gaza could become wider across the region.
The major explosion in Beirut on Tuesday night follows an escalation in fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah on the border of Israel and Lebanon since 7 October.
Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters have been killed in the cross-border exchanges, and Israel has evacuated thousands of civilians from the north, near its border with Lebanon.
Late last month, Israel’s former Minister of Defence Benny Gantz said Israeli forces would act to remove Hezbollah from the border if its attacks continued.
Hezbollah is a designated terrorist organisation by Western states, Israel, Gulf Arab countries and the Arab League.
Funded by Iran, it is one of the most heavily-armed, non-state military forces in the world.
