Charges have been filed against 52-year-old Dalal al-Aruri, the sister of Hamas leader Saleh al-Aruri, who was killed on January 2 in Lebanon. She was detained on the night of January 14 in Al-Bir, near Ramallah.
On the same day, January 14, Salah al-Aruri’s other sister, Fatma al-Aruri, was also arrested in the village of Arura.
The arrest stemmed from the al-Arouri sisters' alleged calls to carry out terrorist attacks and target Israelis.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Dalal al-Aruri had been sending money to her brother over the past two years and supporting him.
Additionally, on October 7, Dalal al-Aruri openly expressed support for Hamas during interviews with various media outlets, following a significant terrorist attack on Israel.
Elimination of Saleh al-Aruri
On the evening of January 2, 2024, in Dahiya, a southern suburb of Beirut, 57-year-old Saleh al-Aruri, deputy head of Hamas Politburo Ismail Haniyeh and the second-in-command of the terrorist group, was killed.
According to Lebanese media reports, rockets fired from a UAV targeted the Hamas headquarters, located in a multi-story building on Hadi Hassan Nasrallah Street. Simultaneously, a nearby car was also attacked.
Lebanese intelligence services hold Israel responsible for this operation.
The IDF did not comment on reports from Lebanon.
In addition to Saleh al-Aruri, the leader of the Izzaddin al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon, Samir Fandi, and the Brigades' commander, Azzam al-Aqra, were killed in a UAV strike on the evening of January 2 in Beirut.
Four Hamas militants - Mahmoud Zaki Shaheen, Muhammad Bashash, Muhammad al-Rayes, and Ahmad Hammoud - were also killed.
According to the Lebanese publication Nidaa al-Watan, Saleh al-Aruri was killed while entering a car. The Hamas office was also targeted in the attack, but al-Aruri was not there at the time.
Brief Information on Saleh al-Aruri
Saleh al-Aruri was born on August 19, 1966, in the village of Arura, located between Ramallah and Nablus. He actively participated in the first intifada, which began in 1987, and joined Hamas. He is considered the founder of the West Bank branch of the Izzaddin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's militant wing.
He was arrested in 1990, released in March 2007, but re-arrested a few months later on June 22, 2007, and placed under administrative detention without specific charges.
On March 17, 2010, he was released on the condition that he leave the country for three years. Unable to travel to Jordan, al-Aruri moved to Syria, where his wife and children joined him. After the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, he relocated to Turkey.
He played a significant role in preparing the "Shalit deal" and was the first Hamas representative to comment on the terms of the deal for Israeli media, as he spoke fluent Hebrew.
In December 2012, he was part of a Hamas Politburo delegation that visited the Gaza Strip.
Salуh al-Aruri's name reappeared in Israeli media in June 2014, when he was implicated in the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers - Gilad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach.
In August, he admitted that the kidnapping and murder of the teenagers were planned by Hamas leadership, though he later claimed the political leadership was unaware of the militants' plans.
Following these events, Israel, with the assistance of its foreign allies, pressured for al-Aruri's expulsion first from Turkey and then from Qatar.
The US State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to al-Aruri's capture or elimination.
In May 2017, Saleh al-Aruri was elected to the Hamas Politburo and appointed head of the international relations department. He later became deputy chairman of the Hamas Politburo in October 2017.
In recent years, he participated in negotiations in Egypt, Iran, and Russia and was considered one of the most influential figures in Hamas leadership.
He was believed to be one of the masterminds behind the major Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. He primarily resided in Beirut and was killed on January 2, 2024, in Beirut.
