Watan-On Tuesday evening, senior Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri and six others from the movement’s ranks were martyred in an Israeli airstrike with a drone targeting a Hamas office in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Seventeen other individuals were reported injured.
Following the confirmation of Al-Arouri’s martyrdom, which came after a direct threat from the Israeli entity to eliminate him, attention turned to identifying the other martyrs who perished in the airstrike alongside Al-Arouri.
It was revealed that among them were two commanders: Samir Fandi from the Qassam Brigades, responsible for operations in the south of Lebanon, and Azzam Al-Aqra.
استشهد مع القائد الشيخ #صالح_العاروري في عملية الاغتيال الصهيونية ببيروت اثنين من قادة كتائب القسام، وهم:
الشهيد القائد سمير فندي
والشهيد القائد عزام الأقرع pic.twitter.com/sAoiRj8alL— رضوان الأخرس (@rdooan) January 2, 2024
Social media accounts and media outlets have shared a picture of the leaders, stating that they were martyred in the bombing of Beirut.
The martyr Al-Aqra hails from the town of Qabalan in the Nablus Governorate. He was a released prisoner and one of the expelled individuals from Marj Al-Zuhour.
It is also worth noting that in July of last year, the Israeli Channel 14 reported that the Israeli Shin Bet placed Samir Fandi on the assassination list.
According to reports in Lebanon, Israel targeted an apartment near Hadi Nasrallah’s highway in the southern suburbs of Beirut with a drone missile around 6:00 PM on Tuesday. The apartment was hosting a meeting for leaders of Hamas in Lebanon, leading to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri and six others.
Among those martyred, along with leaders Saleh Al-Arouri, Samir Fandi, and Azzam Al-Aqra, were several members and sons of the movement, including Mahmoud Zaki Shahin, Mohammad Bishasha, Mohammad Al-Rays, and Ahmad Hamoud.
🔻7 اشخاص بعملية الاغتيال في بيروت:
– القائد الشيخ صالح العاروري
– القائد بالقسام سمير فندي
– القائد بالقسام عزام الأقرع
– محمود زكي شاهين
– محمد الريس
– محمد بشاشة
– أحمد حمود pic.twitter.com/zwhMEyAqxX— أركان الشمري (@ar_8kn) January 2, 2024
It’s noteworthy that the name of Al-Aqra appeared in Israeli media several times, most recently in October 2022, when the occupation accused a Palestinian detainee of meeting with Azzam Al-Aqra in Turkey and planning to infiltrate the Israeli communication network, “Solekcom.”
Hamas Responds to the Assassination of Al-Arouri
In a statement, the Hamas movement affirmed that the “Zionist occupation’s assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri and his brothers, leaders, and members of the movement on Lebanese soil is a complete act of terrorism, a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, and an expansion of its aggression against our people and nation. The Zionist Nazi occupation bears responsibility for its repercussions.”
The statement added, “It will not succeed in breaking the will of resilience and steadfastness among our people and their valiant resistance. The pure blood of Commander Al-Arouri and his brothers has now mixed with the blood of tens of thousands of our people’s martyrs in Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond, as well as with the blood of the martyrs of the nation in the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa for the sake of Palestine and Al-Aqsa.”
The Dignity Martyrs
The Hamas statement continued, “A movement that presents its leaders and founders as martyrs for the dignity of our people and nation will never be defeated. These targeted assassinations only increase its strength, resilience, and unwavering determination. This is the history of the resistance and the movement; after the assassination of its leaders, it becomes even stronger and more determined.”
الشهداء الذين ارتقوا في عملية الاغتيال
الشهيد الشيخ صالح العاروري (أبو محمَّد)
القائد القسامي سمير فندي – أبو عامر
القائد القسامي عزام الأقرع – أبو عبد اللهالأخ الشهيد محمود زكي شاهين
الأخ الشهيد محمد بشاشة
الأخ الشهيد محمد الريس
الأخ الشهيد احمد حمود pic.twitter.com/s3bPIpzJLV— الحج مش هيك (@meshhek22) January 2, 2024