Hundreds mourn Hamas deputy leader at Beirut funeral
- Saleh al-Arouri and 5 other Hamas members were killed in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday in a strike Lebanon blames on Israel
- A machine gun was laid on top of each coffin and heavy gunfire rang out as the funeral procession made its way to the cemetery
More than a thousand mourners attended the funeral in Beirut on Thursday of Hamas number two Saleh al-Arouri who was killed in a Lebanon strike blamed on Israel.
Calling on Hamas to avenge his death and the killing of five other members of the Palestinian militant group on Tuesday, the mourners gathered at a mosque to recite the prayer of the dead before marching to Shatila refugee camp where three of them were buried.
The coffins of the three, Arouri, Azzam al-Aqraa of the Hamas military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and Mohammad al-Rais, were draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags.
A machine gun was laid on top of each coffin and heavy gunfire rang out as the funeral procession made its way to the cemetery, drowning out chants of “Allahu akbar” (God is Greatest) by mourners waving Palestinian flags and those of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad.
“Abu Obeida, bomb Tel Aviv,” the mourners shouted, addressing the Gaza spokesman of the Hamas military wing by his nom de guerre.
Arouri and the six other Hamas members were killed in a strike in a south Beirut stronghold of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Hamas and Lebanese security officials accused Israel of launching the attack, with one high-level Lebanese security official saying they were targeted by guided missiles.
A US defence official told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday that Israel was behind the attack. Israel has not claimed responsibility.