Hezbollah vows to retaliate for Saleh al-Arouri assassination

Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel on Tuesday for the assassination of Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in a southern Beirut suburb that is home to Hezbollah’s headquarters.

“We consider the crime of killing Saleh al-Arouri and his companions in the heart of Beirut’s Dahiyeh a dangerous aggression against Lebanon and its people, security, sovereignty and resistance,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

“The criminal enemy — which after ninety days of crime, killing and destruction was unable to subjugate Gaza — is resorting to a policy of assassination,” Hezbollah said.

The Israeli strike is a major challenge to Hezbollah’s power of deterrence.

Responding to the strike beyond Israel's northern border region could widen the war into Lebanon, bringing it to the capital of Beirut.

While many Lebanese have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, others are reluctant to see the impoverished country dragged into a full-blown war.

A Hezbollah response that leads to further direct Israeli intervention in Lebanon could also exacerbate sectarian tensions in the mediterranean country.  

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously vowed that:  “any assassination on Lebanese soil against a Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian or Palestinian will be met with a decisive response. We will not allow this to be tolerated and we will not allow Lebanon to become a new killing field for Israel.”‌‌