Israeli army has said it is \u201cprepared for any scenario\u201d after a strike in Beirut that killed Hamas\u2019s deputy chief
\nWashington
\nThe United States rejected the inflammatory and irresponsible statements from Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir and clarified there should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
\nFar-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich said this week that Israel should \u201cencourage emigration\u201d from the coastal enclave, home to an estimated 2.3 million Palestinians.
\n\u201cIf there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after [the war ends] will be totally different,\u201d Smotrich said on Sunday, calling for the \u201cvoluntary migration\u201d of Palestinians.
\nThe Israeli army has said it is \u201cprepared for any scenario\u201d after a strike in Beirut that killed Hamas\u2019s deputy chief, stoking fears the war in the Gaza Strip could boil over into wider regional conflict.
\nA high-level security official in Lebanon told AFP that Saleh al-Aruri was killed along with his bodyguards in a strike by Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas after the movement\u2019s shock October 7 attacks.
\nA second security official confirmed the information, while Hamas TV also reported Israel had killed Aruri in Lebanon.
\nIsraeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari did not directly comment on the killing, but said afterwards that the military was in \u201cvery high state of readiness in all arenas, in defence and offence. We are highly prepared for any scenario.\u201d
\nIsrael has previously announced the deaths in Gaza of Hamas commanders and officials during the war, but Aruri is the most high-profile figure to be killed, and his death came in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since hostilities began.
\nThe strike adds to widespread fears that the nearly three-month-old Israel-Hamas war could become a wider regional conflagration.
\nHamas said Aruri\u2019s death would not lead to its defeat, while its Lebanon-based ally Hezbollah vowed the killing would not go unpunished, calling it \u201ca serious assault on Lebanon… and a dangerous development\u201d.
\nLebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing and said it \u201caims to draw Lebanon\u201d further into the war.
\nAruri, who lived in exile, is accused by Israel of masterminding numerous attacks.
\nFollowing his death, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said that a movement \u201cwhose leaders fall as martyrs for the dignity of our people and our nation will never be defeated\u201d.
\nHamas\u2019s bloody October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
\nMilitants also took around 250 hostages back to Hamas-ruled Gaza, of whom 129 remain in captivity, according to Israeli figures.
\nAfter the attack, the worst in its history, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza\u2019s health ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli army has said it is \u201cprepared for any scenario\u201d after a strike in Beirut that killed Hamas\u2019s deputy chief Washington The United States rejected the inflammatory and irresponsible statements from Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir and clarified there should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-378600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n