Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri
| Part of the Gaza war | |
| Date | 2 January 2024 |
|---|---|
| Location | Dahieh, Lebanon |
| Coordinates | 33°51′26″N 35°30′52″E / 33.857331°N 35.514419°E |
| Type | Drone attack or airstrike |
| Target | Saleh al-Arouri |
| Perpetrator | Israel (presumed) |
| Deaths | 7 |
On 2 January 2024, Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas, was killed in an Israeli strike on an office in the Dahieh suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. The strike also killed six other individuals, including additional high-ranking Hamas militants.
Saleh al-Arouri was the deputy leader of the Hamas political bureau and one of the architects of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. He was also responsible for the expansion of Hamas' activities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including attacks on Israelis. This attack is widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, Hamas' main adversary. However, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in this incident.
The assassination occurred a day before Hezbollah commemorated the fourth anniversary of the assassination (in Hezbollah's view, Martyrdom) of senior Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.