Hamas elects Saleh Al-Arouri deputy head of its political bureau

Sources in the movement said that Hamas elected 51-year-old Saleh Al-Arouri as deputy head of its political bureau.

In an interview with Quds Press, the sources, who refused to be named, said: “Al-Arouri was elected by the political bureau of the movement and according to the Hamas covenant.”

Elections began two days ago and ended today. The Shura Council of the Hamas movement, which includes representatives from three regions: the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and outside the Palestinian territories, participated in the elections.

Al-Arouri, who is the founder of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank, is from the town of Arura, north of the city of Ramallah.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Islamic Law from Hebron University, south of occupied Jerusalem, is married and has two daughters.

He joined the Islamic Movement at an early age and led Islamic students’ activities at university from 1985 until his arrest in 1992.

He joined the Hamas movement in 1987 and participated in various forms of resistance against the occupation since the movement’s creation.

Read: Should we bid Hamas farewell?

Al-Arouri was held under administrative detention by Israel between 1990-1992.

He then began to form a military apparatus for Hamas in the West Bank during the period 1991-1992, which contributed to the launch of the Al-Qassam Brigades in the occupied West Bank in 1992.

Israeli occupation forces arrested him in 1992 and he was held until 2007 after being charged with forming the first cells of the Brigades in the West Bank. He was arrested again three months after his release for a period of three years until 2010. Then, the Israeli Supreme Court decided to release him and deport him. It has been reported that he now lives in Malaysia.

He has been a member of the movement’s political bureau since 2010 and is a member of the negotiating team in the Wafa Al-Ahrar deal. He was also a Hamas leader who participated in the recent Cairo dialogues and the movement’s visit to Russia.