The Israeli army has said it is “prepared for any scenario” after a strike in Beirut that killed Hamas’s deputy chief, stoking fears the conflict in the Gaza Strip could boil over into wider regional war, AFP reports.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari did not directly comment on the killing, but said afterwards that the military was in a “very high state of readiness in all arenas, in defence and offence. We are highly prepared for any scenario.”

Israel has previously announced the deaths in Gaza of Hamas commanders and officials during the offensive, but Aruri is the most high-profile figure to be killed, and his death came in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since hostilities began.

Hamas said Aruri’s death would not lead to its defeat, while its Lebanon-based ally Hezbollah vowed the killing would not go unpunished, calling it “a serious assault on Lebanon… and a dangerous development”.