A drone strike on the southern Beirut neighbourhood of Dahiyeh this week killed a number of Hamas leaders together with Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chief of the group’s political wing and founding father of the army wing, Qassam Brigades. The transfer represents a serious regional escalation in Israel’s conflict on Gaza, which has killed greater than 22,000 individuals there to this point. However this was not the primary time that Israel has carried out an assassination inside Lebanon.
Al-Arouri had been dwelling in exile in Lebanon since 2015. Israel has not taken duty for the killings, however it’s thought of extremely seemingly that Tel Aviv ordered the assassination.
For many years, Israel has focused Palestinian leaders in Lebanon, a stronghold of the Hamas ally, Hezbollah. Nonetheless, al-Arouri’s dying comes after an 18-year pause in a protracted listing of tried and profitable political assassinations.
Listed here are a number of the key circumstances.
1972 – Aftermath of Lod Airport killings
One in every of Israel’s first targets in Lebanon was Ghassan Kanafani, a distinguished Palestinian creator and poet who was assassinated on July 8, 1972 in Beirut alongside along with his 17-year-old niece. A grenade had been related to the ignition swap of his automotive. When he began the automotive, this ignited a plastic bomb that had been planted behind the automotive’s bumper.
Kanafani was a spokesperson for the Fashionable Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). His assassination got here within the aftermath of the Might 30, 1972 Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion Worldwide Airport) mass capturing by which 26 individuals have been killed and scores of others have been injured. Three members of the Japanese Crimson Military had been recruited to hold out the shootings because the airport was already on excessive alert for potential assaults by Palestinians. Israel stated Kanafani’s killing was in response to this assault, however it’s thought the assassination was already being deliberate properly earlier than that.
Bassam Abu Sharif, who turned spokesperson for PFLP after Kanafani’s homicide, was additionally focused with a parcel bomb in Beirut on July 25, 1972. Abu Sharif survived the try however suffered extreme accidents – he partially misplaced his sight and listening to, in addition to 4 fingers.
1973 – Response to Munich kidnappings
On September 5, 1972, members of Black September, a faction of the Palestine Liberation Group (PLO), kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes on the Summer season Olympics in Munich. The hostages have been finally killed in a botched rescue try by West German authorities.
In response, Israel launched an assassination marketing campaign referred to as Operation Spring of Youth, to focus on the masterminds of the kidnapping. Travelling by boat from Haifa for an operation that will final from April 10 to 11, 1973, Israeli particular forces landed on the seaside in Beirut with their commander, the long run prime minister, Ehud Barak, disguised as a lady.
They raided a high-rise constructing and personal properties of PLO officers in Beirut and Sidon which that they had beforehand had beneath surveillance, blowing open the doorways with explosives and spraying gunfire till their targets have been lifeless. Three prime PLO officers have been killed: Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar, a deputy to PLO chief Yasser Arafat; spokesperson Kamal Nasser; and Kamal Adwan, army chief for the West Financial institution.
1973-2001 – A protracted plot to kill Yasser Arafat
On October 1, 1973, Israel tried to assassinate Arafat, in addition to PLO members Khalil al-Wazir, Faruq al-Qaddumi, Hani al-Hassan and Wadi Haddad throughout a gathering in Beirut. Bombs dropped on the constructing the place the lads have been assembly didn’t detonate, nonetheless.
Plans to assassinate Arafat continued for years. Israeli intelligence mapped out a number of plans to shoot down industrial planes that may carry Arafat, however considerations concerning the potential political fallout from killing civilians within the try hindered these efforts.
A number of makes an attempt to remove Arafat have been launched between June and August 1982. Salt Fish, an Israeli job drive created for that sole function, launched a number of bombing assaults on potential areas of Arafat, however none have been profitable in killing him.
In 2001, Israel’s prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who regarded Arafat as a “assassin of Jews”, is known to have lastly determined to cease attempting to assassinate him.

1979 – One other response to Munich kidnappings
On January 22, 1979, Mossad brokers executed an elaborate plot to assassinate Ali Hassan Salameh, 37, a prime PLO member believed to be the architect of the Munich kidnappings. Spies had enrolled at his health club to befriend him weeks earlier than and a British-Israeli agent rented an house near Salameh’s residence to observe his actions. Salameh was killed when his automotive handed by a mined Volkswagen that was remotely detonated.
1988 – Try to kill Ahmad Jibril
On December 9, 1988, Israel raided Palestinian bases in southern Lebanon, concentrating on Ahmad Jibril, then secretary-general of the Fashionable Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine Normal Command (PFLP-GC). Commandos raided areas simply exterior Beirut, however have been met with heavy resistance from Palestinian fighters. A number of Palestinian operatives have been killed. It was later revealed that Jibril was by no means in that location.
2006 – Sidon assassination
On Might 25, 2006, Mahmoud al-Majzoub, a senior chief of the armed Palestinian group Islamic Jihad and an in depth Hezbollah ally, was assassinated within the metropolis of Sidon. A automotive bomb hooked up to the door of al-Majzoub’s automotive door exploded when he opened it. Israel denied duty for the assault, however each Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah held Tel Aviv accountable. Nidal al-Majzoub, his brother, was additionally killed.
2024 – The conflict on Gaza
On January 2, a drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh left Saleh al-Arouri lifeless. Six others, together with high-ranking Hamas army commanders Samir Findi and Azzam al-Aqraa, have been additionally assassinated. The lads have been on the second ground of an house constructing.
Israel has not claimed duty for the assault, however Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati referred to as the killing an “Israeli crime”. Hezbollah stated that the assault on Lebanon’s capital “won’t cross with out punishment”.