Reaction to Al-Aruri’s death
Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel
January 6, 2024, 10:17 a.m
Four days after the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri, Hezbollah responded to the attack with massive rocket fire on Israel. A statement speaks of an initial reaction.
After the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in Lebanon, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah said it fired more than 60 rockets at an Israeli military base. “As part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating” al-Aruri, Hezbollah fired “at the Meron air base with 62 different types of rockets,” the Hamas-allied militia said.
The Israeli military said it had identified around 40 rocket launches from Lebanese territory on Saturday. Shortly afterwards, Israeli forces hit a cell responsible for some rocket launches, the army said. Air alarms sounded in towns and villages in northern Israel, and later in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Al-Aruri and six other Hamas members were killed on Tuesday in a drone strike attributed to Israel on a Palestinian organization office in a southern suburb of Beirut. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya’s deputy and therefore number two in the militant Islamist organization’s Politburo was considered an important military strategist for Hamas and one of its leaders in the West Bank. Israel blames him for planning numerous attacks. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in al-Aruri’s violent death.
Hezbollah declared its solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday of the consequences for Lebanon if his militia did not respond to al-Aruri’s killing. Hezbollah cannot remain silent in the face of such an incident.
Israel is demanding that the Hezbollah militia withdraw from the border for the safety of its citizens in the north of the country and has threatened that it could use military means to do so if diplomatic efforts are unsuccessful.