Hamas says top official killed in explosion south of Beirut

It was not clear if the explosion inflicted any casualties in the Beirut suburb but videos circulating on social media showed serious damage and fire.

Civil defense workers search for survivors inside an apartment following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. Picture: AP Photo/Hussein Malla

An explosion in Beirut on Tuesday killed Saleh Arouri, a top official with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and three others, officials with Hamas and the Lebanese group Hezbollah have confirmed.

Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing, had headed the group’s presence in the West Bank.