Fears that Israel's war in Gaza could spiral across the Middle East grew Wednesday after a drone strike killed a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon and twin explosions ripped through an Iranian crowd, claiming 95 lives.
Another 140 people were wounded when two blasts 10 minutes apart struck Iranian mourners commemorating slain Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Soleimani on the fourth anniversary of his killing, Iran's state media reported.
The blasts- which were not claimed by any actor but labelled a "terrorist attack" on state-run TV- came with regional tensions running high a day after Hamas number two Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a Beirut drone strike that was widely blamed on Israel.
Israel assassinated al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday, Lebanese and Palestinian security sources said, which also raised the potential risk of the war in Gaza spreading well beyond the Palestinian enclave.
Arouri, 57, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel launched a brutal and indiscriminate air and ground offensive on Gaza after the Palestinian group launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7.
Lebanon's Hezbollah group, a Hamas ally, has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israel across Lebanon's southern border since the war in Gaza began in October.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has warned Israel against carrying out any assassinations on Lebanese soil, vowing a "severe reaction."
Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of Marj with missiles, following Arouri's killing.
On the ground in Gaza, the Gaza health ministry said 128 people had been killed by Israel in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recorded Palestinian death toll to 22,213 in nearly three months of war in Gaza.