UN chief sees assassination of Hamas leader in Beirut as worrying development

People gather outside an apartment belonging to the Hamas movement destroyed by an Israeli attack on the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

"Obviously, the developments are extremely worrying. And I think this just really highlights what the secretary-general had just said about the dangers of the spillover of this (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict in the wider region," said a UN spokesperson.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sees the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut as a worrying development, said a UN spokesperson on Tuesday.

"Obviously, the developments are extremely worrying. And I think this just really highlights what the secretary-general had just said about the dangers of the spillover of this (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict in the wider region," said Florencia Soto Nino, associate spokesperson for Guterres.

"The secretary-general urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint and take urgent steps to de-escalate tensions in the region," she said.

Guterres has mentioned that this continued fighting has the risk of a great miscalculation by multiple actors, she said. "And I think this is what we've been seeing in different parts of the region, sadly. So we again appeal to all members of the international community to do everything in their power to prevent an escalation to the situation there."

She said the world body did not have all the details of the attack.

A Hamas source told Xinhua that the movement's deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed on Tuesday evening in an Israeli attack on the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The source added that several aides of al-Arouri were also killed in the attack targeting a Hamas office. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the incident.