Lebanon's Hezbollah organization's television station announced that Saleh Alouli, a senior Hamas official, was killed in an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday.
Mr. Allouri was one of the founders of Hamas's military wing and led the group's presence in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israel war began on October 7th.
Israeli officials declined to comment.
Lebanon's state news agency said the explosion killed four people and was carried out by an Israeli drone.
This is the latest news. The following is a previous story from The Associated Press.
An explosion rocked the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday night, causing chaos in the stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah, but the nature of the blast was not immediately known.
It is not clear whether the explosion caused any casualties in the Beirut suburb, but videos circulating on social media showed severe damage and fire.
The explosion came amid more than two months of intense firefights between Israeli forces and Hezbollah members along Lebanon's southern border.
Since fighting began on October 8, the fighting has been concentrated within a few miles (kilometers) of the border, although the Israeli air force has struck several Hezbollah targets deeper into Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah announced that its fighters carried out several attacks targeting Israeli military positions along the Lebanon-Israel border.
