Tears, defiance in Palestinian village of slain Hamas deputy Saleh al-Aruri
mourners broke into sobs as they huddled around defiant family members of slain Hamas deputy Saleh al-Aruri in his village in the occupied West Bank Wednesday, a day after his death in Lebanon.
Aruri, exiled from his village Arura since he was released from an Israeli jail in 2010, was killed in a drone strike on a southern Beirut suburb that Lebanese officials said was carried out by Israel.
Holding a photograph of her son framed in gold, Aisha al-Aruri, 81, said she struck a note of defiance when weeping village women informed her of his death.
«I told them: 'Why are you crying? Do not cry. Bring a box of sweets and distribute them to the people,'» she told AFP, placing her son's picture in her lap.
«He asked for martyrdom,» she said. «And he got it.»
Accused by Israel of masterminding numerous attacks against the country, Aruri was elected in 2017 as deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, officially becoming the Islamist movement's number two.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for his killing.
But Aruri, based in Lebanon, was in its crosshairs following October 7, when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel and launched a deadly attack on Israeli communities.
The attack resulted in the death of some 1,140 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized around 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Unanswered calls
After the attack, the worst in its history, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that has killed at least 22,313 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Dalal al-Aruri, sister of
