World
Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri killed in Beirut suburb
Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri has been killed in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, the Palestinian group and Lebanese media outlets say.
Al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday in a “treacherous Zionist strike”, Hamas said on its official channel. Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Sharq called it a “cowardly assassination”.
Al-Arouri was a senior official in Hamas’s politburo and was known to be deeply involved in its military affairs. He had previously headed the group’s presence in the occupied West Bank.
Samir Findi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqraa Abu Ammar, leaders of Hamas’ armed wing – the Qassam Brigades – were also killed, Hamas said in a message on its Telegram channel.
It named four other members of the group who were also killed.
Earlier, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the blast has killed at least six people and that it was carried out by an Israeli drone.
Hamas said al-Arouri’s killing would not “undermine the continued brave resistance” in Gaza, where the Palestinian group’s fighters are battling Israeli ground forces.
“It proves once more the utter failure of the enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip,” senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.
The group’s top leader Ismail Haniyeh condemned the attack, and said the killing of Hamas members in Beirut was a “terrorist act”, a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, and an expansion of Israel’s circle of hostility against Palestinians.
Haniyeh said Hamas “will never be defeated” in televised remarks.
Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the United States news channel MSNBC that Israel had not taken responsibility for the attack but “whoever did it, it must be clear that this was not an attack on the Lebanese state”.
“Whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership,” Regev said in an interview.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing. His office said in a statement that the attack “aims to draw Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations” with Israel at a time when Hamas ally Hezbollah has been exchanging daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in northern Israel, the statement said.
‘Dangerous escalation’
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said there was “panic” in the Lebanese capital after the attack.
“The targeted killing made many people here in the capital feel that this conflict could widen and could escalate, and all eyes are now on Hezbollah’s reaction,” Khodr said.
Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, said al-Arouri’s killing would create more resistance against Israel, its state media reported.
“The martyr’s blood will undoubtedly ignite another surge in the veins of resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupiers not only in Palestine but also in the region and among all freedom seekers worldwide,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.
Kanaani also condemned the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Netanyahu had threatened to kill al-Arouri long before Israel’s latest assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar told Al Jazeera the killing was a much needed success for Netanyahu.
Imad Harb, director of research at the Arab Center Washington DC, agreed, saying Israel carried out the attack in search for what has become an elusive win.
“So far, the Israelis have not been able to call a victory in Gaza, so assassinating Hamas leaders is partly something that they wanted to do anyway,” he told Al Jazeera. “This is an achievement for the Israeli army and for the Israeli politicians.”
Since Israeli forces and Hezbollah began exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8, the fighting has largely been concentrated a few kilometres inside each country. But on several occasions, Israel’s air force has hit what it said were Hezbollah positions deeper inside Lebanon.
Harb said the killing of al-Arouri is a “dangerous escalation” because it took place in Hezbollah’s area of operations, far from the border.
Harb predicted Hezbollah would likely step up attacks on Israel in response to the killing but would stop short of escalating the conflict into an all-out war.
Meanwhile, at mosques in Arura, the hometown of the slain Hamas leader in the West Bank, Palestinians gathered to mourn al-Arouri’s death.
Protests and gatherings also took place in Ramallah and several nearby towns, such as Deir Qaddis.
A general strike in Ramallah has also been called for Wednesday.
World
Reuters withdraws its story that stated UK's Cameron said UK not against its weapons being used inside Russia – Euromaidan Press
On 2 May in Kyiv, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron pledged £3 billion ($3.75 billion) in annual military assistance for Ukraine for “as long as is necessary,” saying the UK has no objections to the weapons it provided being used within Russia, according to Reuters. Update: the story is withdrawn.
In an interview with Reuters in Kyiv, Cameron noted that some of the British equipment “is actually arriving in Ukraine today, while I’m here,” also noting:
“We will give three billion pounds every year for as long as is necessary. We’ve just really emptied all we can in terms of giving equipment,” the British Foreign Secretary said.
World
Mexican cops find tents, question people in the case of 2 Australians, 1 American missing in Baja
Mexican authorities said Thursday they have found tents and questioned three people in the case of two Australians and an American who went missing over the weekend in the Pacific coast state of Baja California.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the state’s chief prosecutor, would not say whether the three people questioned were considered possible suspects or witnesses in the case. She said only that some were tied directly to the case, and others indirectly.
2 AMERICANS FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL ROOM IN MEXICO’S BAJA CALIFORNIA
But Andrade Ramírez said evidence found along with the abandoned tents was somehow linked to the three. The three foreigners were believed to have been surfing and camping along the Baja coast near the coastal city of Ensenada, but did not show up at their planned accommodations over the weekend.
“A working team (of investigators) is at the site where they were last seen, where tents and other evidence was found that could be linked to these three people we have under investigation,” Andrade Ramírez said. “There is a lot of important information that we can’t make public.”
“We do not know what condition they are in,” she added. While drug cartels are active in the area, she said “all lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them.”
On Wednesday, the missing Australians’ mother, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page an appeal for help in finding her sons, Jake and Callum. Robinson said her son had not been heard from since Saturday April 27. They had booked accommodations in the nearby city of Rosarito, Baja California.
Robinson said one of her sons, Callum, is diabetic. She also mentioned that the American who was with them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm that. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen missing in Baja, but gave no further details.
Andrade Ramírez said her office was in contact with Australian and U.S. officials. But she suggested that the time that had passed might make it harder to find them.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the last few days that they were reported missing. So, that meant that important hours or time was lost,” she said.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez— from the Baja peninsula. Authorities say they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.
World
European elections: What do voters want? What have candidates pledged?
Watch episode one of Euronews’ guide on the European elections, taking place from June 6 to 9.
Ahead of European elections in June, Euronews asked voters to name one proposal they would do if elected to the European Parliament and questioned candidates on their pledges.
Watch the video above to find out more.
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