Who was Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, killed in a drone strike in Beirut?

Here is a look at who al-Arouri was and what his killing means for the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Who was Saleh al-Arouri?

Al-Arouri, 57, was from a village near Ramallah and joined Hamas in 1987. He helped establish the group’s military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades and remained deeply involved in its operations. Al-Arouri also founded the West Bank headquarters of Hamas.

He spent 15 years in Israeli prison after which he was deported to Jordan in 2010. In recent years, al-Arouri resided in Beirut, where he acted as a Hamas ambassador to Hezbollah — a Lebanese Islamic militant organisation backed by Iran. He was one of the best-connected Hamas leaders to both Iran and Hezbollah.

In 2014, Israel accused al-Arouri of planning the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, which led to a 51-day war in Gaza.

The same year, Israel also accused him of plotting to overthrow Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Three years later, Saleh al-Arouri was elected as deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau. Observers saw the development as a sign of the growing influence of Iran over Hamas. According to The New York Times, days after his election, Saleh al-Arouri went to Tehran and met the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

In 2015, the US designated Saleh al-Arouri a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” and has for years offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

What does Saleh al-Arouri’s killing mean for the conflict?

Saleh al-Arouri was one of the top-ranking officials of Hamas and his death comes as a major blow to the group. However, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday said like the previous assassinations of its members, the organisation’s operation won’t be influenced.

Analysts believe that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would escalate as Saleh al-Arouri was killed in the heart of Lebanon, which hosts the militant group. Soon after the incident, Hezbollah vowed to not let the assassination go without “retaliation or punishment”.

Israel has already begun to prepare for the retaliation. Israeli officials told Axios that Hezbollah might launch long-range precision-guided missiles including on major cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv.

“Such an attack could lead to a much stronger reaction by Israel that could quickly deteriorate into a regional war,” the Axios report added.