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Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri killed in Beirut blast

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A drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, killed senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.

The drone hit a Hamas office, leaving six people dead, Lebanon’s state news agency reported.

Hamas confirmed the death of al-Arouri and called it a “cowardly assassination” by Israel, adding that attacks on Palestinians “inside and outside Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people, or undermining the continuation of their valiant resistance”.

“It proves once again the abject failure of this enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip,” the group said.

Following the news of the death of al-Arouri, mosques in Arura, the occupied West Bank town of north Ramallah, are mourning his death and a general strike has been called in Ramallah for Wednesday.

Here is what to know about the Hamas official killed in Lebanon.

Who was Saleh al-Arouri?

Al-Arouri, 57, was the deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau and one of the founders of the group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.

He had been living in exile in Lebanon after spending 15 years in an Israeli jail. Before the war began on October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him.

In recent weeks, al-Arouri took on the role of spokesperson for the group and told Al Jazeera last month that Hamas would not discuss an exchange deal for the captives the group is holding before the war ends in Gaza.

The United States labelled al-Arouri as a “global terrorist” in 2015 and issued a $5m reward for any information on him.

What has Israel said about al-Arouri’s death?

While there has been no official response from Israel about the death of the Hamas official, Mark Regev, an adviser to Netanyahu, told the US outlet MSNBC that Israel does not take responsibility for this attack. But, added, “Whoever did it, it must be clear: this was not an attack on the Lebanese state.”

“Whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership,” he said.

However, Danny Danon, a former Israeli envoy to the United Nations, hailed the attack and congratulated the Israeli army, Shin Bet, the security service and Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, for killing al-Arouri.

“Anyone who was involved in the 7/10 massacre should know that we will reach out to them and close an account with them,” he said on X in Hebrew, referring to the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people.

Israel’s relentless bombing and artillery shelling of Gaza since then has killed more than 22,000 Palestinians, including more than 8,000 children.

According to Israeli media, the government has ordered cabinet ministers not to give any interviews about al-Arouri’s death after Danon’s tweet.

What has been the response from Lebanon?

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack on the Beruit suburb and said it was a “new Israeli crime” as well as an attempt to pull Lebanon into the war.

Mikati also warned against the “Israeli political upper echelon resorting to exporting its failures in Gaza to the southern border to impose new facts on the ground and change the rules of engagement”.

Hezbollah said that the attack on Lebanon’s capital “will not pass without punishment”.

(Al Jazeera)

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Ex-MPs asked to hand over firearms by Dec. 30

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The Defence Ministry has notified former Members of Parliament, Provincial Councils and leaders of political parties and organisations, as well as officials in executive positions of the government, to surrender firearms and ammunition issued to them, by December 30, 2024. 

Issuing a statement today (Nov. 12), the Ministry requested that they be handed over to the nearest police station by the deadline.

The statement also said that Police OICs have been instructed to take steps to check which individuals had received firearms, and to take the weapons into custody.

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Gazette issued summoning new Parliament

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has issued a proclamation summoning the new Parliament to meet on Nov. 21 at 10.00 am.

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Production limit imposed on W.M.Mendis’ Welisara distillery

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A limit has been imposed on the production of liquor at the Welisara distillery of W.M.Mendis and Company due to the non-payment of VAT, the Excise Department has said.

It has added that the company’s permit to manufacture liquor will be suspended if it fails to pay the VAT arrears by November 30.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal today (Nov. 12) rejected the bail request of Randev Dinendra John, a director of W.M. Mendis Company, who has been sentenced to imprisonment.

The court rejected the bail request and scheduled the next hearing for November 29 to confirm facts.

The bail application was heard before the bench of Court of Appeal Justices Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Mahen Gopallawa.

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