Hamas deputy leader Saleh al Arouri killed in alleged Israeli drone strike in Lebanon

Saleh al Arouri, the second-in-command of the terrorist group Hamas, was reportedly killed in an Israeli drone attack in Beirut, according to The Times of Israel. Hamas affirmed that the deputy chief was slain by Israel in Lebanon. Senior Hamas official Izzat al Rishq has responded to Arouri's death, denouncing the "cowardly assassinations" by Israel, and maintaining that such acts will not deter the Palestinian people from continuing their resistance. However, there has been no comment from Israel concerning the drone strike that killed the high-ranking Hamas member. Lebanon's interim Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, reacted to these allegations by censuring the incident as a "new Israeli crime," and warned that Israel may be trying to pull Lebanon into the conflict. 57-year-old Arouri, living in Lebanon, was serving as the political bureau's deputy director for Hamas and was seen as the informal leader of its military wing in the West Bank. Arouri, who was released from an Israeli prison in March 2010 after numerous stints, played a key role in negotiating the 2011 release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas in 2006, in exchange for freeing over a thousand Palestinian prisoners. The former resident of Istanbul was forced to move after the restoration of relations between Israel and Turkey following a diplomatic break caused by an IDF attack on a solidarity flotilla to Gaza that led to the deaths of nine Turkish citizens. Arouri oversaw Hamas's West Bank military activities from Beirut, promoting acts of terror and managing the funding needed for such attacks, as stated in The Times of Israel. Also, Arouri was known to have strong connections with Iran and Hezbollah, another terrorist organization based in Lebanon.