Thousands attend funeral of Hamas official killed in Lebanon airstrike

Thousands of people, many of whom were armed, took to the streets to mourn the death of the Hamas leader. Credit: AP

Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday to attend the funeral of Saleh Arouri, the high-ranking Hamas official killed earlier this week in an airstrike.

Arouri was the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, a decision-making group that determines social, political, and military policy before he was killed on January 2.

Arouri's coffin was draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags and carried in a procession to the Palestine Martyrs Cemetery, where top Palestinian officials killed by Israel have been buried for the last 50 years.

Many mourners attending the funeral were visibly angry about Arouri's death. Credit: AP

“The enemy is running away from its failures and defeats (in Gaza) to Lebanon,” Hamas top leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech aired during the funeral.

Without providing evidence, he said that Arouri’s killing in Beirut “is proof of Israel’s bloody mindset.”

The drone attack that killed the Hamas official struck an apartment in a Shiite district of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold. Arouri was instantly killed, along with six other Hamas members, according to Lebanese officials and state media.

Hezbollah called the strike “a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, sovereignty and resistance.”

Angry crowds had gathered in the West Bank on Wednesday to call for Arouri's death to be avenged as fears mount that the attack could further escalate the conflict in the Middle East.

Arouri had long been on Israel's radar, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having threatened to kill him well before Hamas carried out the deadly attack on Israel on October 7.

The situation in Gaza

ITV News Correspondent John Ray reports on the people of Gaza, who are struggling to survive amongst the deluge of airstrikes

More than 22,400 people have died in Gaza according to its health ministry, and that number continues to mount as fighting persists and living conditions become increasingly hostile.

Around 85% of the population, or 1.9 million people, are displaced, with many having relocated multiple times.

The areas deemed safe for Palestinians to move to are getting smaller and smaller, creating crowded and uncomfortable living spaces.

Food is scarce, and the conditions make it difficult for humanitarian aid to reach those in need.

More than 90% of the population in Gaza is considered to be in a state of crisis or worse when it comes to reliable access to food, IPC data shows.

In December Israel said it was "prepared to fight for months" as it pursues its goal of eradicating Hamas, which suggests that for those trapped in Gaza, the situation isn't going to improve any time soon.

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