Israel Acknowledges it Assassinated Hamas Leader in Beirut

Deputy political head of Hamas and a founder of the group’s military wing Saleh Arouri. (File photo)

The Shin Bet on Tuesday officially claimed responsibility for the assassination of former Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon.
Al-Arouri was killed on January 2, 2024 along with four leaders of the movement’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh.
On Tuesday, the Shin Bet officially took responsibility for his assassination in a yearly report on counter-terrorism operations over 2024, which the newspaper “Israel Hayom” described as an unprecedented year in its complexity.
The Israeli security agency said it foiled 1,040 major "terror" attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, 20 "terror" cells among Arab Israelis and 13 Iranian espionage plots.
The Shin Bet was also involved in three hostage rescue missions in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, as well as several missions to recover the bodies of captives.
In the Gaza Strip, the agency said that in 2024, its agents assisted in the detention of 1,350 Palestinians passing through army checkpoints, including 40 senior commanders, 165 suspects considered close to top officials, 45 involved in the October 7 attack, and 100 who are suspected to have information regarding the Hamas-held hostages.
It handled some 2,500 suspects who were taken from the Gaza Strip in the past year, of which over 650 were later interrogated by the agency. The Shin Bet says the interrogations led to “life-saving information” for ground troops in Gaza, and the targeting of hundreds of sites belonging to "terror" groups.
In Lebanon, the Shin Bet said it was involved in the elimination of 25 senior commanders in Palestinian groups, including Hamas, al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
In the West Bank and Jerusalem, the Shin Bet said it foiled 1,040 significant "terror" attacks, including 689 planned shootings, 326 involving explosive devices, 13 stabbings, nine car-rammings, two suicide bombings, and one kidnapping.
The agency added there was a drop of 40% in "terror" attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem in 2024 compared to the previous year.
The Shin Bet also said it was involved in dozens of special operations in the West Bank in the past year with the Israeli Army and police, including 10 to detain a suspect or eliminate a threat. Among the special operations include raids against "terror" operatives at hospitals in Jenin and Nablus.
Inside Israel, the Shin Bet showed that it carried out hundreds of operations that uncovered 20 "terror" cells made up of Arab Israelis. Five of the cells planned to carry out "terror" attacks with explosive devices or car bombs, the agency said.
Regarding the Iranian threat, the Shin Bet revealed that it had a record in the number of detainees in espionage-related affairs, with an increase of 400% compared to 2023.
In the past year, 13 incidents of Israelis allegedly spying or carrying out other tasks for Iranian elements were foiled, the Shin Bet says, with a total of 27 indictments filed.
The Shin Bet said it also carried out hundreds of “complex security operations in high-risk areas” this past year, including providing security for Israeli officials visiting the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria.
It conducted dozens of security operations abroad, including two special missions — for the Israeli delegation to the Olympics in Paris, France, and the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.
The agency noted in its report that during the war there were five times more cyberattacks on Israel than in previous years.
It said that alongside the Israeli Army and National Cyber Directorate, the agency assisted in foiling some 700 cyberattacks, out of thousands of attempts by various adversaries.