Live Blog Update| Israel's genocide in Gaza
This is an entry from: Israel-Palestine live: Israel’s response to South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ ends

Evening recap

3 January 2024 00:01 GMT

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

On Tuesday, a senior Hamas official was killed in an attack in Beirut, Lebanon that Hezbollah and Hamas blamed on an Israeli drone strike.

The assassination of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri and at least six other commanders of Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, marks a significant escalation in the war on Israel’s northern border.

The strike occurred in Dahiyeh, a southern Beirut suburb which is a stronghold of Hezbollah. The group maintains its headquarters in the densely populated area.

Israel did not confirm or deny the strike, but Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon said the assassination was a joint effort between the Israeli military and the country’s spy services in a social media post.

Hezbollah said that the attack "will not go without a response or punishment," adding that the group has "its finger on the trigger” as it weighs retaliation.

How will Hezbollah retaliate 

The strike is a major challenge to Hezbollah’s power of deterrence.

A Hezbollah strike beyond Israel's northern border region could widen the war into Lebanon, bringing it to the capital of Beirut.

While many Lebanese have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, others are reluctant to see their impoverished country dragged into a full-blown war. 

The attack was condemned by senior officials across the region.

The head of Hamas's political bureau Ismail Haniyeh called it a“craven assassination,” while Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the assassination was a  "crime perpetrated by known criminals"

Lebanese acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said it was "an Israeli crime" designed to draw Lebanon into the war in Gaza.

Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s former security chief and a key interlocutor between the US and Iran-backed groups in the region, denounced Arouri’s killing as an attack on Lebanese sovereignty.

So far, Hezbollah has yet to retaliate in a significant way, but the situation is tense with Israel preparing for a potential ballistic missile attack, Axios reported. 

Other developments

  • Protests engulfed the occupied West Bank in response Arouri’s assassination
  • Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned after her remarks at a US Congressional hearing sparked a fierce backlash that she was condoning anti-semitism
  • Malaysia endorsed South Africa’s application before the International Court of Justice in The Hague alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
  • A Malta-flagged container ship called for a US-led coalition warship after seeing three nearby explosions in the Red Sea 
  • The US clashed publicly with some of Israel’s senior cabinet ministers over their call for a forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
  • The stock prices of some container shipping companies rallied by double digits amid Houthi Red Sea attacks