With several missiles fired by an occupation drone towards an apartment in the southern suburb of Beirut, on Tuesday evening, January 2, 2023, the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement, Saleh Al-Arouri, was martyred.

The name of Sheikh Saleh, or Abu Muhammad, as those close to him call him, emerged several years ago as a driver of resistance action and groups affiliated with or linked to the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Who is Saleh Arouri?!

Beginnings

Saleh Muhammad Suleiman Al-Arouri was born on August 19, 1966, in the town of Aroura, affiliated with Ramallah. He studied in the surrounding schools and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Islamic law from Hebron University in 1986.

Saleh Al-Arouri belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood (Islamic Movement) at an early age, was active in advocacy work in mosques, and led the Islamic bloc at Hebron University between 1985 and 1992.

Establishment of Al-Qassam Brigades groups in the West Bank

Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri was one of the first founders of the Hamas movement in the West Bank. He led and contributed to the establishment of many of the movement’s military groups, which crystallized with the launch and establishment of the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank in 1992.

From that date until his martyrdom, Sheikh Al-Arouri played direct and indirect roles by supporting and establishing hundreds of cells and groups affiliated with the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

Sheikh Saleh and the prisoners’ file

With the escalation of Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri’s activities in resisting the occupation in the West Bank, he was arrested several times at the hands of the Israeli occupation. It is noteworthy that the arrests to which he was often subjected were administrative, which indicates the failure of the occupation to extract confessions from him. After he was subjected to administrative detention during... In the years 1990, 1991, 1992 and 2007, the occupation resorted to expelling it from Palestine.

After his deportation, Al-Arouri played an important role in the file of prisoners in the occupation prisons, and he was a member of the Hamas delegation negotiating during the arrangements for the “Loyalty of the Free” deal.

In political leadership

The leadership of the Hamas movement chose Saleh Al-Arouri to work within its political bureau between 2010 and 2023.

On October 9, 2017, the Hamas movement announced the election of Al-Arouri as deputy head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, during the recent meeting of the movement’s Shura Council.