Israel was on high alert for an escalation with Hezbollah on Wednesday after one of the top leaders of the Palestinian Hamas was killed in a strike in Beirut that was widely blamed on Israel and heightened the risk of a broader Middle East conflict.

The killing of Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago, provided a morale boost for Israelis still reeling from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack as the militants put up stiff resistance in Gaza and continue to hold scores of hostages.

But its implications for the war remain unclear. Israel has killed several top Hamas leaders over the years, only to see them quickly replaced. And the strike in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold could cause the low-intensity fighting along the Lebanon border to boil over into all-out war.

Much depends on how Hassan Nasrallah — who has led Hezbollah since an Israeli strike killed his predecessor in 1992 — chooses to respond. He has previously vowed to retaliate for any Israeli targeting of allied terror leaders in Lebanon, and was expected to deliver a speech at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT).

Hezbollah has attacked almost daily since the war in Gaza began, but Nasrallah has appeared reluctant to escalate it further, perhaps fearing a repeat of the monthlong 2006 war, in which Israel heavily bombed Beirut and southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials have not commented on the strike that killed Arouri, but Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said “we are on high readiness for any scenario.”

A HIGH-PROFILE TARGET

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to kill Hamas leaders wherever they are. The group’s Oct. 7 attack from Gaza into southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage.

Israel claims to have killed a number of mid-level Hamas leaders in Gaza, but this would be the first time since the war that it has reached into another country to target the group’s top leaders, many of whom live in exile around the region.

Haniyeh said Hamas was “more powerful and determined” following the attack, which killed six other members of the group, including two military commanders. “They left behind them strong men who will carry the banner after them,” he said of those killed.

Hezbollah called the strike “a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, sovereignty and resistance.”

“We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment,” it said.

(AP)