what to remember from Tuesday, January 2

Hamas number two was killed Tuesday in Beirut in a strike blamed on Israel. The pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon affirmed in the evening that the “assassination” of Saleh al-Arouri “would not go unpunished”.

This is the first time since the start of the war in Gaza that Israel has struck the Lebanese capital. Hamas number two was killed by an Israeli strike near Beirut on Tuesday, the Palestinian Islamist movement and two Lebanese security officials announced on Tuesday January 2. Israeli hostages held in Gaza will only be released according to “terms” of Hamas, declared its leader Ismaïl Haniyeh during a televised speech. Here is what to remember from the 88th day of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas number two killed in Israeli strike

Six people including Hamas number two, Saleh al-Arouri, were killed in the strike attributed to Israel, which targeted the office of the Palestinian movement in the suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday evening, announced the official Lebanese agency ANI but also Hamas.

According to the National News Agency, “a meeting of Palestinian groups was held” in this building in the southern suburbs, stronghold of pro-Iranian Hezbollah allied with Hamas, at the time of the strike. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his movement “will never be defeated.” “The assassination by the Zionist occupation of the great national leader and valiant fighter Saleh al-Arouri, as well as his brothers among the leaders and cadres of the movement, on Lebanese territory, is a terrorist act characterized (…) “, he added. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati denounced him for “new Israeli crime”, while the powerful pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon affirmed in the evening that“assassination” by Israel, from the number two of Palestinian Hamas “would not go unpunished.”

The Israeli army is ready “for any scenario”, for his part declared his spokesperson Daniel Hagari. Without directly mentioning the strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri, he said during his daily press briefing that the army is “at a high level of preparedness for any scenario”. Emmanuel Macron called on Israel to “avoid any escalatory attitude, particularly in Lebanon”the Elysée announced late in the evening.

Israeli hostages will only be released under Hamas’ “conditions”

Israeli hostages held in Gaza will only be released according to “terms” of Hamas, its leader Ismaïl Haniyeh declared Tuesday during a televised speech. “The prisoners of the enemy will only be released under the conditions set by the resistance”, he said. Hamas kidnapped some 250 people during its attack on Israeli soil on October 7, of whom 129 are still being held in the Gaza Strip according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli soldier suspected of shooting dead Palestinian detainee under investigation

The Israeli army announced Tuesday that it had opened an investigation targeting one of its soldiers suspected of having killed a Palestinian detained in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian, presented by the army as a “suspected terrorist”was arrested and then interrogated in Gaza before being placed “under the supervision of a soldier, who is suspected of having opened fire on him leading to his death”according to an army press release. “In light of preliminary information, a military police investigation has been opened to examine the circumstances of the shooting”she added.

Four Palestinians killed in West Bank

Four Palestinians were killed during an incursion by the Israeli army into the town of Azzoun, in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army claimed that the soldiers had “killed four terrorists” during an exchange of fire. A soldier was injured in the clashes, she added. Since the Hamas attacks on October 7, at least 321 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers.