After the assassination of the Vice President of the “Hamas” movement and the leader of the movement in the West Bank, Saleh Al-Arouri, with a drone that targeted the movement’s offices in the southern suburb of Beirut, there is speculation that Israel appears to have begun its plan to target and liquidate the most prominent leaders of “Hamas,” which it proposed not long ago. These preferences come in light of the importance of Al-Arouri’s role in the movement and his classification as the “second man” in it.

Israel had previously warned that it would pursue Hamas leaders in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar, and placed Al-Arouri on an assassination list that includes six of the most prominent Hamas leaders at home and abroad.

In turn, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which published the list, described Al-Arouri as “the second man in the movement, and responsible for the activities of its military arm in the West Bank, which may explain the priority of his liquidation compared to other names present abroad, such as Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of.” Hamas” and Khaled Meshaal, head of its political office abroad.

Al-Arouri is the most prominent Hamas leader

Al-Arouri is considered among the list of senior officials in the Hamas Political Bureau abroad and at home who became targets for Israel after the attacks of October 7, 2023. The newspaper “Israel Hayom” reported yesterday, Tuesday, that the liquidation of Al-Arouri sends an important message to the people who are managing the negotiations regarding… kidnapped and detainees, that no one is safe. The Hebrew newspaper explained that it is possible that other senior members of the movement’s political bureau who are currently living abroad are also on the list of targets.

The newspaper also talked about the importance of getting rid of Hamas leaders for Israel, considering that drying up the economic and political infrastructure of the Hamas movement abroad is no less important than dismantling the brigades of the military wing in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Arouri was born on August 19, 1966 in the village of Aroura, located northwest of the city of Ramallah. He studied Sharia law at Hebron University, and was named Al-Arouri after his village.

Saleh Muhammad Suleiman Khasib joined the Muslim Brotherhood at an early age. Al-Arouri’s importance stems from the fact that, when he was in his early twenties, he joined the members of the “Hamas” movement months after its launch in 1987, and participated in establishing the “Al-Qassam” military wing in the West Bank between 1991-1992.

Ismat Mansour – who spent twenty years in Israeli prisons – told the BBC that he accompanied Saleh Al-Arouri for many years in prison since 1994, and described him as “an intelligent, quiet person… who did not talk much… he thought in a strategic and organized way.” …and has a high sense of security.”

Al-Arouri was released more than a decade after his arrest in 2007, but Israel re-arrested him until he was released in 2010, according to reports.

But what is noteworthy is that Al-Arouri played a pivotal and important role from inside the prison in leading the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange negotiations deal, according to which 1,027 Palestinian detainees were released, including the current head of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, according to Mansour.

Al-Arouri moved between Syria, Turkey, and Qatar, reaching the southern suburbs of Lebanon, Hezbollah’s most prominent stronghold in Beirut. He had close relations with Tehran and visited it several times, and met publicly with Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, according to previous Palestinian news reports. .

According to local media, citing Israeli intelligence, he was involved in planning to kidnap and kill three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank during the summer of 2014.

After the October 7 attacks on Israel, Al-Arouri appeared meeting with Nasrallah and the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ziad Al-Nakhalah, according to what was reported by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar channel.

Consequently, Al-Arouri became at the top of Israel’s most wanted list, as he was described as the “engineer” of the attacks in the West Bank against Israeli soldiers and settlers, and the launching of rockets from Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli media also described him as “Israel’s nightmare and the godfather of relations with Iran and Hezbollah,” and he was listed On the US list of international terrorists.

Israeli forces destroyed Al-Arouri’s house, located in his town of Al-Aroura in the West Bank, at the end of last October, and arrested twenty people, including his brother and his nephews.

Has the “assassinations” plan begun?

According to the newspaper “Israel Hayom”, eliminating the leadership of “Hamas” will not be the end for Israel, and although it eliminated a number of leaders of the military wing in Gaza, including the leaders of the northern and central region, many of them are still moving in the Strip.

The newspaper prepared a list of names that are considered the main targets of Hamas for Israel, whether in Gaza or outside the Strip. But the most prominent question here, especially after the assassination of Al-Arouri, the second-in-command in Hamas, is whether Israel is ready to implement its plan to liquidate Hamas’ leaders, or is this matter difficult, given that not everyone is present in Gaza or the border countries with Israel, and because Reaching them is difficult and not that easy.

What raises further speculation that Israel has begun implementing the plan to liquidate Hamas leaders is the Turkish authorities’ arrest, on Tuesday, of 33 people on suspicion of carrying out “international espionage” activities on behalf of the Israeli foreign intelligence service, Mossad, targeting foreigners.

Last month, Turkish officials warned Israel, according to press reports, of “serious consequences” if it tried to pursue Hamas members outside the Palestinian territories, including Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that this would be a “big mistake.”

Who is on Israel’s target list?

According to the list prepared by the newspaper “Israel Hayom”, Ismail Haniyeh (60 years old) is on Israel’s list of targets. Haniyeh was elected head of the political bureau of “Hamas” in 2017, succeeding Khaled Meshal, but his name and surname are (Abu al-Abd). They have been known to the world since 2006 when he became prime minister of the Palestinian Authority after his movement’s surprise victory in the parliamentary elections, according to Agence France-Presse.

Haniyeh, who lives in self-imposed exile between Qatar and Turkey, which support the movement, has long called for the identification of “armed resistance with political struggle” within the movement, which the United States, the European Union, and Israel classify as terrorist.

Haniyeh, known for his calmness and sober speech, maintains good relations with the leaders of various Palestinian factions. He was arrested by Israel several times, most notably in 1989, and deported him with a number of Hamas leaders to southern Lebanon in 1992.

Khaled Meshaal is also on Israel’s list of eliminations, and he was the leader of Hamas in exile for a long time before he was replaced by Ismail Haniyeh.

Meshaal has a history with Netanyahu himself, as in 1997, Netanyahu, who was serving his first term as prime minister, ordered Israeli spies to kill Meshaal, one of the founders of “Hamas” who was then living in Jordan, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The team entered Jordan disguised as Canadian tourists and attacked Mashal outside the Hamas political office in Amman. One of the Israeli killers sprayed a poisonous substance in Mashal’s ear, but he was captured along with another member of the team.

Meshaal is considered a fierce opponent of the peace process with Israel, and joined the Muslim Brotherhood before participating in the development of Hamas, according to Agence France-Presse.

As for Yahya Sinwar, who was elected in February 2017 to head Hamas in Gaza – a position previously held by Ismail Haniyeh – he is not considered a simple political leader, and he is on Israel’s hit list. He is, above all, one of the founders of “ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades” “Al-Majd” division, which is presented as an intelligence unit affiliated with the “Hamas” branch.

Israel arrested him in 1988 on charges of “carrying out terrorist activity.” He was then sentenced to four life sentences and was released in October 2011 as part of an agreement to exchange 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of the French-Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas for five years. His name was included on the US list of “international terrorists” in September 2015. The Israelis also suspect him of being one of the main planners of the October 7 attacks.

On December 15, the Israeli army announced a large financial reward for anyone who provides information about a number of senior Hamas leaders, or contributes to their handover to Israeli forces.

Muhammad al-Deif, Muhammad Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Abu Khaled), whom Tel Aviv suspects was the mastermind of the October 7 attack, is the supreme commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He joined Hamas in the late 1980s after serving a period Head of the Muslim Brotherhood Student Union. For more than 30 years, he has been considered Israel’s number one target, and Al-Deif’s name was included on the US list of “international terrorists” in 2015, according to Agence France-Presse.

As for the so-called “Shadow Man,” Marwan Issa, 58 years old, is Mohammed Al-Deif’s right-hand man. According to Israeli media, he is one of the priority targets of the special unit of Shin Bet (the Israeli internal security service) and Mossad, called “Indigo”, which was created to track down and eliminate those responsible for the October 7 attack.

The deputy head of Hamas’s military wing survived several assassination attempts, one of which was in 2006, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. At that time, he was participating in a meeting that was also attended by Muhammad Al-Deif. According to the same source, his house was bombed twice, in 2014 and 2021. “In Israel, they say that the psychological war with Hamas will not end as long as Marwan Issa is alive,” according to what Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad, according to what Al-Hurra reported from the “Israel Hayom” newspaper, is the commander of “Hamas’s northern Gaza City brigade, most of whose battalions have already been eliminated,” and Adraei said, in a post on “AX” (formerly Twitter), On December 21, the Israeli army “continues to dismantle the Gaza Brigade of Hamas.” Out of seven senior commanders of the brigade, four have so far been liquidated, leaving only three senior commanders within the chain of command: the brigade commander, Ezzedine Al-Haddad, and the commanders of two battalions, Imad Aslim, and Jabr Hassan Aziz.

Also, on December 15, the Israeli army announced a large financial reward for any person who provides information about a number of senior leaders of the “Hamas” movement, or contributes to their handover to the Israeli forces, including Rafi Salama, commander of the “Khan Yunis Brigade” affiliated with the “Hamas” movement. “Hamas,” for which Israel offered a financial reward of $200,000 in exchange for reporting him, according to the “Times of Israel” newspaper.

This is in addition to Musa Abu Marzouk, a member of the Hamas political bureau. He was imprisoned in the Metropolitan Federal Correctional Center in New York City in July 1995, when he was detained at Kennedy Airport after his name appeared on the electronic “watch list” of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. According to the Middle East Policy Council and Counter Extremism, Al Hurra reported.

Marzouk is one of the founding members of the Hamas movement and previously served as its vice president under the former leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal. Marzouk is considered among Israel’s targeted list.

Marzouk’s importance also comes from the fact that he coordinated and financed Hamas’ activities during his stay in the United States between 1988 and 1993. He managed many American bank accounts from which he transferred money to foreign accounts to support Hamas’ activities. He was also director of the United Society for Studies and Research, which was linked to individuals trying to finance Hamas’ terrorist activities. Marzouk has been linked to several groups, such as the Holy Land Foundation and INFOCOM, which allegedly played important roles in financing Hamas.

Fathi Hammad is also apparently present in Turkey, according to “Israel Hayom,” and is on the Israeli assassination list. Hammad was previously responsible for creating “propaganda mouthpieces” for “Hamas,” and worked as a liaison between the military wing and the political office in Gaza Strip, then left Gaza for Turkey.

The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, had hung a poster on the wall of his office in Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 attack, bearing pictures of hundreds of Palestinian faction leaders arranged in a pyramid, with the aim of assassinating them later, according to what “Reuters” reported. .