In an incident on Tuesday night, Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, was reportedly killed in a targeted strike by an Israeli drone on the group’s offices in the southern suburbs of Beirut, controlled by Hezbollah.
Al-Arouri, a key figure in Hamas, served as the deputy to Ismail Haniyeh since 2017 and played a founding role in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Al-Arouri was on Israel’s hit list and faced sanctions from the US Treasury for alleged involvement in financing Hamas and facilitating weapon transfers since the group’s formation in 1987. The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
His death coincided with the eve of Iran commemorating the anniversary of the killing of its top general, Qasem Soleimani, in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020. Al-Arouri gained prominence in 2014 when he claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers. Israel and the US believed he played a role in funding and training Hamas fighters involved in the October 7 attack on Israel, leading to a military campaign against the Gaza Strip. The campaign resulted in the deaths of at least 22,000 Palestinians.
In October, the Israeli army demolished Al-Arouri’s family home in the West Bank town of Aroura near Ramallah, an action authorized by Yehuda Fox, head of the Israel Defense Force Central Command.
