Another Hamas leader, Saleh al-Arouri, who lives in Lebanon,has moved location to Turkey. Al-Arouri is typically located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah’s power base is located. There, he coordinated between the two groups and organized activities of Hamas's Lebanon branch, the Kan report said.
The recent movement of Hamas leaders may be related to Israel’s promise to wipe out the terrorist group’s leadership wherever it is found. Ronen Bar, head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), said on December 3 that Israel will eliminate the leaders of Hamas in Qatar and Turkey.
Following Bar’s comments, a Turkish intelligence official told Reuters that there would be "serious consequences" if Israel attempted to pursue senior Hamas officials "outside the Palestinian territories," whether in Turkey or elsewhere. The warning was delivered to Israel "following the statements of officials," according to the source.
As a result, al-Arouri may have felt safer in Turkey, contradicting his past statements that “we are never afraid to die as martyrs.”
Although al-Arouri holds the No. 2 spot in Hamas, a Kan News report in September described him as “the most dangerous man in Hamas,” a puppet master pulling the strings behind the scenes.
He has repeatedly called for violence against Israelis in the West Bank. “Don’t let them feel secure while they’re in our land. Cause them to lose a feeling of security and to lose hope so that they’ll leave and go someplace else,” he has said.
He was imprisoned by Israel for terrorist activities almost continuously from 1992 to 2010.
