Saleh al-Arouri

Saleh al-Arouri (صالح العاروري, also transliterated as Salah al-Arouri or Salih al-Aruri; 19 August 1966 – 2 January 2024) was a senior leader of Hamas and a founding commander of its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

He was also said to be the deputy chairman of Hamas's political bureau, and Hamas's military commander of the West Bank, although he lived in Lebanon at the time of his assassination.

Al-Arouri was born in 'Arura near Ramallah in the West Bank in 1966.

Al-Arouri was born on 19 August 1966 in 'Arura, Ramallah in the West Bank.

He enrolled at Hebron University to study Islamic Sharia in 1985, during which he was elected head of the Islamic faction at the university, and was recruited to Hamas during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation in 1987.

In 1985, he enrolled at Hebron University to study Islamic Sharia.

He was elected head of the Islamic faction at the university, where he established ties to Kutla Islamiya (Islamic Blocs), Hamas' youth wing on campus.

Al-Arouri had joined Hamas during the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation in 1987.

Through his connection to Kutla Islamiya, al-Arouri met Muin Shahib, a Bir University-based Hamas operative who recruited al-Arouri to the ranks of Hamas and entrusted him with funding of an infrastructure for Hamas' military apparatus in Hebron.

Starting in 1990, he was imprisoned by Israel multiple times for his Hamas activities, starting with administrative detention, and served his longest sentence for 15 years before his release in 2007.

After al-Arouri was briefly imprisoned by Israel, he was directed by Hamas to recruit a squad in Hebron that acquired weapons in 1990, thought to have been used in the later killing of an Israeli soldier.

He spent six months in prison.

He was arrested again shortly after.

Initially held on administrative detention, he spent 15 years in prison for his leadership role in Hamas.

In 2007, al-Arouri was arrested again by the Israeli authorities and released in March 2010, probably for his decisive role in the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas in 2006.

When he was released from prison in Israel in 2007, al-Arouri told interviewers that he abjured terrorist attacks, asserting that Hamas is "harmed if we target civilians."

He was exiled by Israel shortly after his release from prison and he moved to Damascus, Syria, where he joined Hamas' political bureau headed by Khaled Meshaal.

When Khaled Meshal left Damascus at the inception of the Syrian Civil War, Arouri relocated to Istanbul, Turkey, where he established his own bureau.

This has been evident since 2013, when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) arrested 20 terrorists affiliated with Hamas that had been assisted by Hamas operatives abroad with "guidance and funding."

Al-Arouri said in a conference in Turkey on 20 August 2014 that Hamas was responsible for the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers.

However, his claim was doubted by experts.

The Israeli defense establishment thinks al-Arouri was boasting and was unconnected to the kidnapping.

He was then exiled by Israel from the Palestinian territories to Syria, later moving to Turkey and finally settling in Lebanon in 2015.

He was described as "a capable, charismatic, suspicious, and shrewd operator, with excellent connections".

He also served as a recruiter, and was actively involved in raising and transferring funds on behalf of Hamas.

Al-Arouri was considered one of the architects of the 7 October attack on Israel, and was also known for his role in expanding Hamas' activities in the West Bank.

The U.S., which designated him as a terrorist in 2015, had also put a $5 million bounty on his head.

He was assassinated in 2024 during the Israel–Hamas war by an Israeli strike.

Up until 2015, al-Arouri lived in Turkey; in December 2015, it was reported that he had left Turkey for Lebanon.

Ynet News reported that al-Arouri's departure was part of the reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Israel, and had been discussed during the meeting held in early December between Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, and Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshal.

Al-Arouri was usually portrayed as a pragmatic leader, in contrast with Hamas leadership's hardline policy.

According to Matthew Levitt of the think tank Washington Institute for Near East Policy, al-Arouri "has been a key figure behind Hamas' efforts to rejuvenate the group's terrorist networks in the West Bank."

From Istanbul, al-Arouri allegedly operated independently from the rest of the organization, thereby fostering existing leadership issues in Hamas, an organization multi-headed by design.

Hamas' Turkey branch is generally described to be making decisions without taking into account the movement as a whole and without involving the Hamas leadership.

Udi Levy, who has worked for over 30 years with Israeli intelligence, described al-Arouri as "Iran's man inside Hamas".

Some of Al Qassam Brigades' activities aimed at establishing a Hamas cell in Hebron specialized in kidnapping Israeli soldiers, which Hamas believes is one of the most effective strategies to secure the release of its affiliates.

Al Qassam Brigades and the Hamas cell in Hebron are run from remote locations, and have often benefited from help coming from outside the Israeli territories.

Al-Arouri was regarded as the orchestrator of a series of incidents of terrorism against Israelis in 2015, including the 2015 Shvut Rachel shooting and the shooting of Danny Gonen.

His focus was on building Hamas military capacity in the West Bank, by smuggling in weapons and establishing sleeper cells.

In September 2015, al-Arouri was placed on the U.S. list of terrorists.