Israel Denies Responsibility for Killing Senior Hamas Leader; Ismail Haniyeh Threatens Israel with 'Revenge'

Following the killing of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas abroad, in a drone strike in the suburbs of Beirut, Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas residing in Qatar, stated: 'Israel will face the consequences of this action.' However, Israeli officials denied involvement in the operation. Mark Regev, senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Tuesday that Israel does not take responsibility for the attack on Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon. He added in an interview with MSNBC: 'Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack, but the killers of Israelis should expect that the government and armed forces of Israel will ultimately reach them.' Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli army, also refrained from answering a question about the killing of Saleh al-Arouri during his daily press briefing. According to CNN, Hagari responded to a reporter's question on the matter by saying: 'We are focused on fighting Hamas. The Israeli army is highly prepared in all areas, in defense and attack. We are very ready for any scenario.' Saleh al-Arouri, a senior commander of the 'terrorist' group Hamas, had recently met with Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in Tehran. According to published images, he and several other senior Hamas officials performed a 'thanksgiving prayer' after the group's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the massacre of at least 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. On the other hand, Ismail Haniyeh, who is mourning his deputy Saleh al-Arouri, described the act as 'a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and an expansion of Israel's aggressions against the Palestinians.' Saleh al-Arouri spent several periods in Israeli prisons and was released in March 2010 as part of efforts to exchange Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas in 2006. In exchange for the release of that soldier in 2011, more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli jails. During the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on southern Israel, 1,200 people, including women, children, and the elderly, were massacred, and about 240 others were taken hostage by Palestinian militants to the Gaza Strip. Estimates suggest that 129 hostages are still held captive by Palestinian Islamist militants. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Israel, and several other countries have listed Hamas as a terrorist organization. Regional reactions to the killing of Saleh al-Arouri include reports of an Israeli drone attack in the suburbs of Beirut; a senior Hamas official was killed; intensified Israeli attacks in southern Gaza; a meeting between Nasrallah and Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders; Benjamin Netanyahu stating that Hamas and Iranian proxy groups will pay the price for escalating tensions; a Wall Street Journal report on the Quds Force commander meeting with militia leaders regarding attacks on Israel; and a quiet meeting of the Iranian Minister of Intelligence with senior Hamas members.