[News] Who is Saleh al-Arouri; Hamas Resistance leader killed by 'Israel'?

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/who-is-saleh-al-arouri--hamas-resistance-leader-killed-by--i>
Who is Saleh al-Arouri; Hamas Resistance leader killed by 'Israel'?
Al Mayadeen English
January 2, 2024
------------------------------

This article traces some of the greatest accolades of Hamas politburo
Deputy Chief martyr Saleh al-Arouri, who set the spurred Resistance in the
West Bank.


   - [image: Who is Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas leader assassinated by
   'Israel'?]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/archive/image/2024/1/2/f9ea2a94-4fdc-4594-ad85-7460d48dd6de.png?v=4&width=1000>
   Martyr and late leader Saleh al-Arouri. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated
   by Hady Dbouk)

On the evening of January 2, 2024, the Israeli regime assassinated the
Deputy Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, in Beirut
Southern Suburb, Lebanon.

The chilling news of the great leader's martyrdom came after a series of
Israeli threats, which reached their peak in August 2023. Israeli officials
resented al-Arouri's direct years-long role in building up the capabilities
of the Palestinian Resistance in the West Bank, which highlighted the
fragility of Israeli security.
Building up West Bank Resistance

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, mourned one of its most
devout leaders, who endured 15+ years of imprisonment and was eventually
forced out of Palestine and headed to Syria in 2010. Al-Arouri stayed in
the neighboring Arab country, before moving to Turkey, Qatar, and Malaysia,
eventually settling in the Southern Suburb of Beirut in Lebanon, where he
resumed his revolutionary work.

A statement released by Hamas following the news of al-Arouri's
assassination highlighted his leading political and military role both in
the West Bank and Gaza. In fact, al-Arouri, born on August 19, 1966, played
an integral role in setting up Hamas' military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, in
the West Bank.

The leader's original birth name is Saleh Mohammad Suleiman Khaseeb.
Nonetheless, akin to fellow families in the region, his unique distinction
as "al-Arouri" is derived from his roots in the small town of Arura
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israel-set-to-demolish-house-of-hamas-deputy-chief-in-west-b>
within the Ramallah district. This connection is precisely why he is
recognized today as al-Arouri, which is interpreted as an individual
descending from the town of Arura, in Arabic.

The martyr's roots in his town shaped his political career, in which he
diligently and relentlessly worked to snatch the rights of his people from
the hands of the occupiers. Al-Arouri deliberately embraced the legacy of
past martyrs, aligning himself with the image of revolutionaries unyielding
in the face of the criminal Israeli regime.

"Our blood and our souls are never more precious or dearer than any fallen
martyr."

Martyr Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri

Al-Arouri's greatest accolades

The leader did not only contribute to the organization of Resistance cells
in the West Bank
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hamas-unveils-groundbreaking-armor-piercing-efp-devices-in-j>
and other fronts, but he also led negotiations for prisoner exchange deals
that the Resistance imposed on the occupation.

After graduating from al-Khalil University in the West Bank, with a
bachelor's degree in 1987 and studying Islamic Law (Shariah), al-Arouri
made his way up the movement's ranks, eventually voted in as a member of
its politburo in 2010.

The Resistance leader faced intermittent periods in captivity, as he was
first administratively detained in the early 1990s by Israeli occupation
forces, due to his activity within the Hamas movement. He was later freed,
but then redetained and sentenced to 15 years in prison for establishing
Resistance cells in the West Bank.

After completing his sentence, he was yet again detained and released in
2010, to be finally forced out of the country in the same year.

He then headed Hamas’ negotiating team in charge of completing the prisoner
exchange deal in 2011 with the Israeli occupation, mediated by Egypt. Hamas
dubbed the operation "Faithful to the Free" (Wafaa Al-Ahrar). Under the
deal, Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was held captive by Hamas, was
released in exchange for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners from
Israeli prisons, including the current leader of Hamas, Yahya al-Sinwar
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/who-is-yahya-al-sinwar-the-artist-behind-operation-al-aqsa-f>,
among other prominent Palestinian figures.

On October 9, 2017, al-Arouri was elected as Deputy Head of Hamas'
Political Bureau. One year later, the United States enlisted him under its
infamous "terrorist list", and in 2021, he became the head of the Hamas
movement in the West Bank.
A historic revolutionary

The Israeli occupation demolished the house of the senior Hamas leader in
Aroura in 2014, and then once again this year, on October 27, shortly after
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, due to his direct involvement in the unprecedented
ground attack.

The leader's unblemished career made him a force to reckon with by Israeli
officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to
assassinate al-Arouri, to which he responded at the time, saying, "The
Israeli threat against me will not change my convictions, and it will not
have an impact on the path [that I have chosen]" in an exclusive interview
for *Al Mayadeen*.

His assassination triggered a wave of condemnations and promises for
retaliation
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/palestinian-resistance-factions-mourn-martyred-leader-saleh>,
specifically from Palestinian Resistance factions, shedding light on the
closely-knit relationship that al-Arouri had built with Palestinian cadres
and his irrefutable popularity among Palestinians.

*Read more: Exclusive - Al Arouri: Resistance Axis preparing for all-out
war
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/exclusive---al-arouri:-resistance-axis-preparing-for-all-out>*
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