Saleh Muhammad Sulayman al-Arouri (Arabic: صالح محمد سليمان العاروري; 19 August 1966 – 2 January 2024), also transliterated as Salah al-Arouri or Salih al-Aruri, was a Palestinian politician and senior leader of Hamas who served as deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from October 2017 until his assassination in January 2024.

[17] With Zaher Jabarin, al-Arouri helped to found the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, leading its expansion into the northern West Bank.

[18][19] 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.

[8][21] 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.

"[20][17] 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.

[7][8] When Khaled Meshal left Damascus at the inception of the Syrian Civil War, Arouri relocated to Istanbul, Turkey, where he established his own bureau.

[25] 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.

[7] 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.

[37][1] His focus was on building Hamas military capacity in the West Bank, by smuggling in weapons and establishing sleeper cells.

[9] Arouri played a key role in the negotiations that lead to the release of 105 Israel civilian hostages from Gaza in November 2023.

Moreover, Al Arouri allegedly "financed and directed a Hamas cell in the West Bank that sought to instigate clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces.

In this connection, terror finance expert Matthew Levitt claimed that al-Arouri "played a critical intermediary role between otherwise compartmented elements of Hamas's external leadership and on-the-ground operatives.

[6] He also had a younger sister named Dalal,[46] who following his death was arrested by Israeli authorities for allegedly helping to fund his terroristic activities.

[49][50] The attack is suspected to be the work of Israel, Hamas' chief opponent, but the country has not officially acknowledged or denied its involvement.