Draft:Saleh al-Arouri

Saleh al-Arouri
Name	Saleh al-Arouri
Other Names	Saleh al-Arouri
Personal Details
Birth Place	Palestine
Brith Date	19 August 1966
Death Place	Beirut, Lebanon
Death Date	2 January 2024
Religion	Islam

Saleh al-Arouri was the Deputy Chairman of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas". He played a key role in calling on the people of Palestine to participate in the First Intifada (Stone Intifada), and in establishing the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank (Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades). During his lifetime, he was imprisoned three times by Israeli forces in the years: 1990 CE, for two years, 1992 CE, for 15 years, and 2007 CE, for three years. After his release from Israeli prisons in 2010 CE, he was exiled from Palestine and went to Damascus, the capital of Syria. He was one of the members of the negotiation team for the Wafa al-Ahrar deal (Prisoners' Loyalty Contract). On 2 January 2024 CE, he was killed in a drone attack by Israel on the Al-Mashrafieh area in the southern district of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

Biography

Saleh Muhammad Sulayman al-Arouri was born on 19 August 1966 CE, in the town of Aroura near the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. He spent his elementary, middle, and high school education in Palestine, and then entered Al-Khalil University in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, graduating with a bachelor's degree in this field.

Student Activities

In 1985 CE, he became the leader of the Islamic Student Movement at Al-Khalil University, and after the establishment of the Hamas movement in late 1987 CE, he joined it.

Militant Activities

Al-Arouri had significant political activities during the First Intifada in calling on the people of Palestine to participate in the Intifada. Subsequently, with the help of some of his friends, he founded the military wing of Hamas (Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades) in the West Bank of the Jordan River and was able to activate military operations in this region. In 2010 CE, he was sentenced to exile from Palestinian territory by an Israeli military court and went to Damascus, the capital of Syria. In the same year, he was elected to the Hamas Political Bureau.

Member of the Wafa al-Ahrar Exchange Negotiation Team

He was one of the members of the negotiation team for the Wafa al-Ahrar deal (Prisoners' Loyalty Contract) in 2011 CE. One year later, with intensive indirect negotiations between the two parties led by al-Arouri, 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an imprisoned Israeli soldier. In 2014 CE, at the height of clashes between the people of the West Bank and Israeli occupiers, three Israeli soldiers disappeared and were subsequently killed. This incident, which led to a full-scale Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip known as the 51-Day War, brought Saleh al-Arouri's name into the official and public sphere for the first time. The Israeli Defense Minister at the time identified him as responsible for this operation.

His Expulsion as a Condition for Normalization

After the Syria crisis and the relocation of Hamas political leadership from Damascus to Turkey, Israel stated that one of the conditions for normalizing relations with Turkey was the expulsion of al-Arouri, which was met with agreement by the Turkish side. In 2015 CE, after being expelled from Turkey, he resided in Qatar. In May 2018 CE, following the escalation of the Qatar crisis with the countries of the Persian Gulf coast, he relocated to Lebanon.

Deputy Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau

With Ismail Haniyeh as the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Yahya Sinwar, one of the old leaders and intelligence-military figures of this movement with a history of 23 years of imprisonment, as the responsible person for this movement in the Gaza Strip, and Saleh al-Arouri as the Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau were elected in 2017 CE.

These elections sent a message to regional and international parties that Hamas has not only preserved its jihadi spirit but also intends to increase its jihadi dimension in the future. Furthermore, it was a final blow to the years-long differences between the military wing and the Hamas Political Bureau, and with the presence of al-Arouri and Yahya Sinwar in the political body of Hamas, the influence of the military wing in the political decision-making of this movement increased more than ever.

Arrests

He was imprisoned for the first time in 1990 CE, after the First Intifada, for two years without trial by Israeli occupiers. Then, after the establishment of the Hamas military wing in the West Bank in 1992 CE, he was tried in court and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was released in 2007 CE, but three months later, for the third time, he spent three years in Israeli prisons. Finally, in 2010 CE, after his release, he was exiled from the territory of Palestine and went to Damascus, the capital of Syria.

Death

Finally, Saleh al-Arouri, Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, was killed on 2 January 2024 CE, corresponding to 12 Dey 1402 SH, in a drone attack by Israel on the Al-Mashrafieh area in the southern district of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, along with two commanders of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, Samir Fandi and Azzam al-Aqra.

Hamas reaction

Following his martyrdom, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, offered condolences to the Palestinian people on the martyrdom of the mujahid leader Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, and Samir Fundi and Azzam al-Aqra, two Qassam commanders, and emphasized that the assassination operation of martyr Saleh al-Arouri proved the savagery of the occupying regime against the Palestinian nation everywhere. The Hamas leader stated that the assassination of martyr al-Arouri and his other brothers in the Hamas movement is a completely terrorist act and a violation of the territorial integrity of Lebanon. Ismail Haniyeh stated that the Zionist enemy will not be able to break the determination and will of the Palestinian nation and the Resistance. He added: "The blood of al-Arouri and his brothers has mingled with the blood of thousands of children of the Palestinian nation in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and abroad in the Battle of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Flood operation." Haniyeh emphasized that Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri and his brothers attained martyrdom after a life full of sacrifice, Jihad, resistance, and work for the sake of Palestine, foremost among them Jerusalem and the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and reached their highest aspirations in this hard and difficult path. And they raised strong men who will carry the flag after them and continue this path with the help of God to defend our nation, land, and sanctities until liberation and return. He stated: "A movement whose leaders and founders attain martyrdom for the sake of the dignity of the Palestinian nation will never be defeated, and these assassinations will add to its power, solidity, and determination."

See also

• Al-Aqsa Flood
• Axis of Resistance
• Jerusalem
• Palestine
• Gaza

References

• Palestinian Information Center.

• Saleh al-Arouri, vision-pd.org.

• Excerpt from Mashregh News website.