BEIRUT, (PIC)
Hamas announced on Tuesday evening that Israel had assassinated the deputy head of the political bureau of the Movement, Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri, and three of his companions, by targeting his office in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Who is Sheikh al-Aruri?
“In Hamas, we are all martyr projects, from Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and down, and I feel like I have lived a long life and surpassed the expected age, so welcome to martyrdom. And Mohamed Al-Daif is targeted every day, and, God willing, he will enter Jerusalem (victorious).” With these words repeated in his recent interviews, Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri, may he rest in peace, looked forward to achieving his wish for martyrdom in the path of God.
Saleh Mohammed Suleiman Al-Aruri (Abu Mohammed), a prominent Palestinian political leader, was assassinated by Israel in Beirut. He was the deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and contributed to the founding of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas in the West Bank.
Arrested for over 15 years in Israeli prisons, he was later deported from Palestine. He played a crucial role in the negotiation team for the “Shalit deal,” was married with two daughters, and lived in Lebanon before his martyrdom.
Born in the village of Arura in the Ramallah district in 1966, he received his primary, junior, and secondary education in Palestine and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Islamic law from al-Khalil University.
Al-Aruri joined Islamic action at an early age in school and mosque activities, then led the Islamic student movement (Islamic Alliance) at the university from 1985 until his arrest in 1992.
Founding the Al-Qassam Brigades
Tel Aviv considers him one of the key founders of the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank and accused him of being behind the kidnapping of three settlers in al-Khalil.
Following the accusations, his house was demolished, and he began establishing and organizing an armed wing for the Movement in the West Bank in 1991-1992, contributing to the actual launch of the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank in 1992.
He was administratively detained from 1990 to 1992, then imprisoned until 2007 (15 years), on charges of forming the first Al-Qassam Brigades cells in the West Bank. He was then re-arrested three months after his release, for another three years until 2010, when the Israeli Supreme Court decided to release and deport him from Palestine.
He was deported to Syria and lived there for three years. With the beginning of the Syrian crisis, he left for Turkey in 2012, where he settled. Afterward, he left Turkey and traveled between several countries, including Qatar and Malaysia, finally settling in the southern suburbs of Lebanon.
Political Bureau membership
He was elected as a member of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas in 2010 until October 2017.
In October 2017, Hamas announced that al-Aruri had been elected as the deputy head of its political bureau under the leadership of Ismail Haneyya, during the Movement’s Shura Council meeting.
Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri continued to assert, after the heinous Israeli aggression on Gaza, that there would be no negotiations regarding the enemy’s prisoners. The official and final position of Hamas and the resistance was that there would be no exchange of prisoners until the end of the Israeli terrorist aggression completely and definitively.
Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri remained steadfast despite Israeli assassination threats. When Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his gang threatened to assassinate him, Al-Aruri appeared in military uniform with his rifle, delivering a strong response to all assassination attempts.
The Israeli media reported that “Al-Aruri’s appearance in military uniform aims to convey that he is leading the war, that he is one of the resistance fighters, and that he is ready to die as a martyr.”
Not afraid of assassination
Al-Aruri had previously responded to the reported Israeli willingness to resume assassination operations against Hamas leaders, saying that such a step could trigger a “regional war.” He added, “If we reach the point of a comprehensive confrontation, Israel will suffer an unprecedented defeat in its history, and we are confident of that.”
He coined the terms “comprehensive war in multiple arenas” and “unifying the arenas,” which emerged with the battle of “Sword of Jerusalem” in 2021, followed by the round of missile strikes carried out by the resistance from several arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, in response to the crimes of the occupation in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The latest conclusion reached by the occupation is that the Israeli army is now unable to dismantle the “triangle of complexity,” represented by Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza, which al-Aruri masterminded. This was confirmed by the former spokesman for the Israeli army, Ronen Manelis, to the Israeli Kan channel, stating that “al-Aruri’s hand, at least in recent months, seems to be dominant.”
Aruri’s absence is a significant loss for the Palestinian homeland, but it will not stop the resistance, especially in the West Bank. The resistance has witnessed the assassination of dozens of leaders over the years, always giving birth to new leaders who continue the struggle.
Aruri responded to Israeli threats of assassination with the phrase, “My assumed life is over,” and it seems that his assumed life has indeed ended. His departure will send messages about the possibility of a comprehensive war on multiple fronts.
American reward
In 2018, Washington announced a reward of $5 million for information leading to his arrest, as well as other officials in Hezbollah.
The U.S. State Department announced a $5 million reward for information about al-Aruri and other leaders of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Khalil Yusuf Harb, and Hitham Ali Tabatabai.
Michael Evanoff, who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security at that time, stated that al-Aruri “lives freely in Lebanon, also works with the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and collects money to carry out operations for the benefit of Hamas, leading operations that resulted in the killing of Israelis holding American citizenship.”
