Shooting the Man in the Shadows, Beirut Time
Less than three months after the surprise attack by the extremist group Hamas on Israeli cities and settlements, Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of this group, which is considered terrorist by the US and the EU, was killed in a drone attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 12.
The explosion that occurred in the al-Mashrafiyeh neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut has been attributed to Israel. Although Israel has not claimed responsibility for this attack, the Lebanese state news agency reported that al-Arouri and his companions were killed in an Israeli drone attack on the apartment where they were present, which is one of Hamas’s offices. According to this report, at least 6 people were killed and 11 others were injured in this attack. Hamas says Samir Fandi Abu Amer and Azzam al-Aqra Abu Ammar, two commanders of the military wing of this group, were also among the dead.
The killing of al-Arouri is considered a major blow to the Hamas group due to his background and role, especially since he was one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and had extensive internal and external connections.
The killing of al-Arouri took place at a time when Israel announced its intention to start a new phase of its war against the Hamas group in Gaza after nearly three months of airstrikes and ground operations. About a week before that, in another attack attributed to Israel, Razi Mousavi, a senior commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, was killed in the suburbs of Damascus, the capital of Syria.
Who was al-Arouri?
Saleh al-Arouri was one of the prominent leaders of the Hamas group, whose name was repeatedly mentioned as one of the main planners and coordinators of the bloody October 15 attack by this group on Israel. Al-Arouri was one of those present in the famous video of the Hamas leaders’ prostration of gratitude after the October 15 attack on Israeli cities and settlements, in which about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, were killed and about 240 were taken hostage.
Saleh al-Arouri was born on August 19, 1966, in the village of Arura, a suburb of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. He completed his primary and secondary education in the Palestinian territories and then obtained a bachelor’s degree in Islamic Sharia from Hebron University in the West Bank. During his youth, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood group and led Islamic activities at Hebron University in 1986. After the establishment of the Hamas group in 1987, al-Arouri joined this group.
He was detained by the Israeli army without trial for two years from 1990 to 1992 due to his activities in the Hamas group. Al-Arouri was one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of establishing the initial cells of al-Qassam in the West Bank. He was released in 2007 but was re-arrested three months after his release, and finally, in 2010, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a ruling for his release and exile outside the Palestinian territories. In the same year, he was elected as a member of the Hamas political bureau.
Main Link with Iran and Hezbollah
After the October 15 attack, Western media, including the American newspaper USA Today, reported that Israel had launched an international operation to hunt down al-Arouri. Prior to this attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also threatened to kill al-Arouri.
In 2015, the US Treasury Department listed this Hamas official as a terrorist and sanctioned him. A day before al-Arouri was killed, Michael Evanoff, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, stated that al-Arouri was living freely in Lebanon, was in contact with the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, and was responsible for financing Hamas operations in which Israeli and American citizens were killed.
However, according to USA Today, the reason for targeting al-Arouri was his involvement in the deadly Hamas attack on October 15 and his role as a liaison between Hamas on one side and the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon on the other side.
This newspaper, quoting current and former intelligence officials in the United States and Israel, as well as government and judicial documents, stated that al-Arouri is considered the communication link between the three parties, namely Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Odi Levy, who worked for more than 30 years in the Israeli intelligence organization, told this newspaper that most of Hamas’s money comes from Iran and the Iranian man in the Hamas organization is al-Arouri.
Despite being listed as a terrorist by the US and a bounty being set for his capture, al-Arouri continued to travel in the region, including between Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Qatar. He collaborated with some other figures whose names are listed in some terrorist lists, such as Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards.
Al-Arouri’s main residence was in Lebanon. Before the October 15 attack, Western media had reported meetings between him and other Hamas leaders and the Islamic Jihad group with high-ranking officials from Iran and Hezbollah. The American newspaper USA Today wrote that al-Arouri played a role in establishing a new alliance between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah, which raised Israel’s concerns.
A Role Beyond Deputy Head of Hamas Office
Al-Arouri played a role beyond being the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau. In addition to continuing activities in guiding and planning the operations of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, he also helped rebuild the Hamas organization in other Palestinian areas under Israeli blockade in the West Bank.
Former US and Israeli counter-terrorism officials have said that al-Arouri, as an assistant to Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political bureau residing in Qatar, played a prominent role in political contacts between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah.
In 2003, the US Department of Justice identified al-Arouri as having a role in financing three Hamas activists in Chicago. In June 2014, after an attack in the West Bank that led to the killing of three Israeli teenagers, al-Arouri announced that the responsibility for this attack lay with the Hamas group.
In American documents, based on which al-Arouri was sanctioned as an international terrorist, it is stated that he manages Hamas’s military operations in the West Bank and has been involved in many terrorist attacks and kidnappings.
Expulsion from Qatar
According to the annual report of the US State Department on terrorism in June 2017, Qatar expelled six members of the extremist Hamas group, including al-Arouri, from its territory. Afterward, he went to Lebanon, where he played a decisive role in quelling the disputes between Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran, disputes that began following the civil wars in Syria and Hamas’s stance on it. In Lebanon, al-Arouri also established closer ties with the Hezbollah group.
Five Million Dollar US Reward
In November 2018, the US State Department announced that the United States had set a five-million-dollar reward under the Rewards for Justice program for information about al-Arouri. At the same time, the US State Department also announced that al-Arouri was living freely in Lebanon and was said to be collaborating with Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards.
According to some American media, al-Arouri also had close cooperation with Saeed Azadi, head of the Palestine Committee in the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards. Israeli officials also say that he played a role in transferring fighters of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades to Lebanon for special training in this country.
Odi Levy, who was previously the commander of the Tsiltzal unit responsible for tracking the funds of Palestinian groups and Hezbollah in Mossad, once said that Israel is pursuing al-Arouri in the same way that the United States pursued Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, after the September 11 attacks.
