Israeli Drone Strike in Beirut Suburb; Senior Hamas Official Killed

The Times of Israel, citing the media outlet Al-Mayadeen affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanon, reported that Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas abroad, was killed in an Israeli strike in the suburbs of Beirut. The Times of Israel notes that Israel has not yet commented on the alleged attack. Hamas confirmed the death of Saleh al-Arouri in the early hours of Tuesday night in Lebanon. Ezzat al-Rashq, a senior Hamas official, claimed that Israel's actions against Hamas leaders would not be 'successful.' He also stated that this attack proves Israel's failure to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip. According to the report, al-Arouri, 57, based in Lebanon, was the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau and was effectively considered the real leader of Hamas's military wing in the 'West Bank.' The building that was targeted in the attack. The Times of Israel reported that Israeli intelligence officials believe al-Arouri also helped plan the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers and several other attacks in June 2014. He spent several periods in Israeli prisons and was released in March 2010 as part of efforts to exchange Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier that Hamas had kidnapped in 2006. In exchange for the release of that soldier in 2011, over a thousand Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails. The French news agency also reported an airstrike on Monday in the suburbs of Beirut, citing the Lebanese news agency. Reuters also reported, citing the Lebanese state news agency, that in an Israeli drone strike on Tuesday targeting a Hamas office in southern Beirut, four people were killed. According to Reuters, two security sources said that a Palestinian militant leader was likely killed in this attack. Turkey arrested 33 people 'on suspicion of espionage' for Israel, coinciding with a rise in global oil prices as the destroyer 'Alborz' entered the Red Sea.