Israel Targets Senior Hamas Leaders in Lebanon

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israeli attacks against senior Hamas leadership, heavy Russian airstrikes against Ukraine, and deadly tragedies across Japan.

Hamas Leaders Killed in Beirut

Israeli forces killed senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday during a targeted drone strike against a militant leadership meeting in Beirut, Hamas officials said. Six other Hamas members, including high-ranking officials, were also killed.

Arouri was known for his efforts to create a militant battalion in the West Bank and for his close ties to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who warned against any Israeli attack on Lebanese soil in August. Israel has not formally taken responsibility for the strike, but a prominent Knesset member in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party openly praised the Israeli military and security forces for the assassination in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Israeli troops also targeted Hamas leaders believed to be hiding in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday. “This will continue as high-intensity efforts in the heart of Khan Younis,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, echoing Netanyahu’s promise to continue fighting until Hamas is destroyed and the group releases all of its more than 100 Israeli hostages. The Palestine Red Crescent Society posted on X that its headquarters in the city had also been struck by Israeli forces, killing and wounding several people.

Major bursts of fighting came just one day after Israel confirmed that it will pull back five brigades (comprising thousands of troops) from Gaza in the coming weeks, signaling an intention to move to a long-term, lower-intensity fight. Many Israeli soldiers will return to their bases for training or rest while older reservists will be sent home to help boost the nation’s economy. To prepare for “prolonged fighting,” Israel plans to focus on targeting Hamas strongholds and “pockets of resistance,” said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari.

As Israel’s military campaign begins to shift its strategy, Netanyahu faces political turmoil both domestically and abroad. On Monday, Israel’s Supreme Court struck down Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform bill, which first passed in July and curbed the high court’s check on government decisions. Thousands of Israelis protested the legislation at the time, and some Israeli officials have said the chaos, including Netanyahu using the bill to temporarily fire Gallant in March, may have contributed to Hamas’s decision to attack Israel on Oct. 7.

Netanyahu condemned the Supreme Court’s decision. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the ruling “seals a tough year of dispute that tore us apart from the inside and led to the most terrible disaster in our history.”

Meanwhile, Turkish officials detained 33 people on Tuesday suspected of spying for Israel and are still searching for 13 others allegedly linked to Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Ankara accused the individuals of planning to assault and kidnap foreign nationals. In December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel of “serious consequences” if it targeted Hamas militants on its soil. Ankara’s latest accusations test last year’s decision to resume diplomatic ties between the two nations.

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What We’re Following

Putin’s revenge. Russia launched a large-scale attack against Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities on Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring nearly 130 others. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 72 of around 99 Russian missiles and drones, including hypersonic weapons. Kyiv retaliated hours later against the city of Belgorod, Russian officials said, accusing Ukraine of killing at least one civilian and wounding four others.

Moscow’s large-scale assault fulfills President Vladimir Putin’s promise on Monday to continue targeting Ukrainian cities after Kyiv launched what Putin called a “terror” attack against Belgorod in comments made on Saturday. Putin accused Ukraine of “indiscriminate” strikes against the city; the Kremlin is known for attacking civilian infrastructure despite falsely claiming to only target military facilities.

Tragedy in Japan. A devastating airline collision killed five Japan Coast Guard members in Tokyo on Tuesday. Officials say a commercial aircraft skidded down the tarmac at Haneda Airport before crashing into a Coast Guard plane and bursting into flame. All 379 people aboard the passenger plane escaped. The military aircraft was set to deliver aid to Niigata, Japan, following the region’s devastating earthquake on Monday.

Meanwhile, search and rescue teams continue to search for survivors of the province’s 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which triggered tsunami warnings and killed at least 55 people. In one town near the natural disaster’s epicenter, around 90 percent of homes were destroyed. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of more shock waves to come.

Assassination attempt. South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is recovering in an intensive care unit on Tuesday after being stabbed in the neck while visiting the port city of Busan. Lee was touring construction of a new airport when a man asking for his autograph attacked him. The 66-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene.

Lee became head of South Korea’s Democratic Party in 2022 following his narrow defeat against President Yoon Suk-yeol and has spent the past few months preparing for parliamentary elections this April. He is expected to re-run for president in 2027. On Tuesday, Yoon expressed “deep concern” over Lee’s attack and ordered an investigation.

Odds and Ends

The start of a new year often brings new opportunities, and this year, that includes a fresh batch of works entering public domain from around the world. Depending on where you live, fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, W.E.B. Du Bois’s Dark Princess, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, and Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica,” among many others, can now share and repurpose these classic works free of restrictions. Happy viewing!