The Israeli army carried out a dawn raid in the occupied West Bank on Saturday in the village of the number two Islamist movement Hamas, arresting around twenty people and questioning dozens more, according to a city councilor and witnesses.
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This raid in the village of Aroura, 20 km north of Ramallah, came as war raged in the Gaza Strip between Hamas, which is in power in the area, and Israel, following a bloody attack by the Islamist movement on Israel on October 7 Territory had taken place.
Aroura is the village from which Hamas number two Saleh al-Arouri, who lives in exile in Lebanon, comes from.
Dozens of villagers were questioned by the Israeli army and more than twenty of them were arrested, including a brother of Saleh al-Arouri and nine of his nephews, according to village mayor Ali Al-Khasib and witnesses.
The Israeli army confirmed in a press release that it, together with the internal security service Shin Beth, carried out an operation in Aroura in which it “interrogated and arrested dozens of Hamas members, including relatives of the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas Saleh.” Arouri.
AFP
The Israeli army seized Mr Arouri’s home and brought dozens of villagers there for questioning, Mr Khasib told AFP.
She also unfurled a banner on the facade of the house with a photo of Saleh al-Arouri against the background of the Israeli flag, according to witnesses and images posted on social networks.
As if to send a message to Hamas, the banner bore the inscription in Arabic: “This was the house of Saleh Arouri and this became the headquarters of Abu Al-Nimer – Israeli intelligence.”
According to villagers, Abu al-Nimer is the pseudonym of the Israeli intelligence officer in charge of the area, including Aroura.
AFP
“During the duration of the operation, Saleh Arouri’s house was used by Shin Beth and the army as a headquarters for the detention and questioning of activists,” the Israeli army said.
Saleh Arouri, accused by Israel of being the mastermind of numerous attacks, was elected deputy to the head of the Hamas politburo Ismaïl Haniyeh in 2017, officially becoming the Islamist movement’s No. 2 leader.
After spending a total of almost twenty years in Israeli prisons, Saleh al-Arouri was released in 2010 on the condition that he go into exile. He now lives in Lebanon.