In a major escalation of Israel's war on Gaza, a drone strike on the southern Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh has killed several Hamas leaders, including Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of the group's political wing and founder of the military wing, Qassam Brigades. The strike represents a significant regional development, further intensifying the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the targeted killings, but given the circumstances, it is widely believed that Tel Aviv ordered the assassination. While al-Arouri had been living in exile in Lebanon since 2015, for Israel, this attack marks a resumption of a long list of attempted and successful political assassinations within Lebanon.

Historically, Israel has focused its attention on targeting Palestinian leaders in Lebanon, particularly Hezbollah, a key ally of Hamas. However, al-Arouri's death follows an 18-year pause in such assassinations.

One of the earliest instances of Israeli targeting in Lebanon occurred on July 8, 1972, when Palestinian author and spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ghassan Kanafani, was assassinated. Kanafani, along with his 17-year-old niece, tragically lost their lives when a grenade connected to the ignition switch of his car detonated, following an elaborate plastic bomb planted behind the car's bumper. Israel cited retaliation for the Lod Airport shooting in May 1972 as the motive for the attack.

Another targeted individual, Bassam Abu Sharif, became the spokesperson for the PFLP after Kanafani's murder. On July 25, 1972, he narrowly survived a parcel bomb attack in Beirut, which left him severely injured, resulting in partial loss of sight, hearing, and fingers.

The Munich Olympics massacre in September 1972, where 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and eventually killed by members of Black September, led to Israel launching Operation Spring of Youth. The operation aimed to target the masterminds behind the kidnapping. Israeli special forces, led by the future prime minister Ehud Barak, undertook a raid on PLO officials' residences in Beirut and Sidon, resulting in the assassination of three top PLO officials.

Attempts to assassinate PLO leader Yasser Arafat persisted for years, but Israel faced challenges due to the potential political backlash of killing civilians. Numerous plots were hatched, including targeting Arafat through commercial planes, yet none were successful in eliminating him.

In 2001, Israel's then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made the decision to halt assassination attempts on Arafat. However, instances of targeted killings in Lebanon have continued sporadically, including the assassination of Ali Hassan Salameh in 1979, Ahmad Jibril in 1988, and Mahmoud al-Majzoub in 2006.

The recent drone strike on January 2, 2022, in Beirut's Dahiyeh neighborhood, resulted in the death of Saleh al-Arouri, along with six other high-ranking Hamas military commanders, namely Samir Findi and Azzam al-Aqraa. While Israel has refrained from claiming responsibility for the attack, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati swiftly labeled it an "Israeli crime." Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese political and military organization, pledged that the attack on their capital "will not pass without punishment."

As tensions continue to rise in the region, the targeted killings in Lebanon underscore the highly volatile and complex nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The repercussions of these assassinations are likely to have significant ramifications for regional stability and further exacerbate existing hostilities.

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