Tel Aviv, Jan 3 (IANS): The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on Tuesday that it has neutralised the deputy leader of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, in Lebanon.

Hamas has confirmed the assassination, though the IDF is yet to issue an official statement in this regard.

Senior official of the Hamas group, Izzat al-Rishq, said in a statement, “The cowardly assassinations carried out by the Zionist occupation against the leaders and symbols of our Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people or in undermining the continuation of their resistance.”

He claimed that the strike “proves once again the abject failure of the enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip".

While Israel has not officially issued a statement on the killing, Israeli politician and former diplomat Danny Danon in a social media post praised Israeli security forces for the killing of Saleh al-Arouri outside of Beirut.

It may be noted that top Israel leaders, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have time and again said that Israel will kill all the top leaders of Hamas.