Saleh al-Arouri may have been a senior member of the Palestinian group Hamas, but the drone strike that brought his story to an early close took place last night in Beirut, Lebanon. Pictures from the scene show a devastatingly precise hit, which also reportedly eliminated senior members of other factions.
The leaders of Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group founded by Iran, will not have been surprised that Israel’s reach extends so easily into their country. Likewise, it will have been no surprise to Israel that al-Arouri and other Hamas officials were to be found in Beirut. Along with Qatar and Turkey, Lebanon has long been one of Hamas’s main bases outside Gaza, with influential figures like Osama Hamdan – whom as I type will no doubt be watching his back – making their homes there in the late Nineties.
Hamas, it seems, signed not just its own death warrant but also that of Hezbollah
But the killing of al-Arouri is significant as a place-marker.
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