Saleh al-Arouri: assassinated leader was Hamas’s link to Iran and Hezbollah

Arouri had talked with Hezbollah of ‘real victory’ over Israel after 7 October attacks

The killing of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut is the first strike in a campaign of assassinations overseas promised by Israeli officials for several months.

The target was carefully chosen – one of the most senior Hamas leaders and the organisation’s main link to both Iran and the Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah. Arouri was also influential in the occupied West Bank, where he was born and where violence has soared in recent months.