The Israeli military destroyed the house of Saleh al Arouri, a senior Hamas commander, in the West Bank on Tuesday.
Israeli officials have singled out al Arouri and a handful of other senior leaders following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel in which roughly 1,400 people, the vast majority of whom were civilians, were killed. Al Arouri is believed to be living in Lebanon, and his house was not occupied and was set for demolition last week, according to Reuters.
JOHNSON SPEAKERSHIP SPELLS TROUBLE FOR DEMOCRATS IN WASHINGTON SPENDING FIGHT
“Engineering forces, the IDF and the Israel Defense Forces operated tonight in the village of Arora in the Binyamin Brigade area to demolish the home of the terrorist Salah Arori, deputy head of the Political Bureau and responsible for Hamas’s activities in the Judea and Samaria region,” the IDF said in a statement referencing the West Bank. “One of the senior Hamas operatives residing abroad and responsible for targeting terrorism from Judea and Samaria.”
As the demolition occurred, Palestinians began throwing stones and rocks at Israeli forces, who “responded with means to disperse demonstration,” including the use of live fire at the protesters, the IDF statement added, noting that “injuries were detected.”
The IDF also released a video of the detonation.
The Hamas official has spent nearly two decades in multiple sentences in Israeli jails. He rose to prominence almost a decade ago due to his alleged role in the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenage soldiers that prompted a short-lived war.
Israel has launched a full-scale war against Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, in which thousands of militants from Gaza crossed into Israel and went into civilian communities and butchered women, children, and the elderly, among others. Families were tortured, burned alive, killed in front of loved ones, and there were reports of sexual violence. About 260 people were killed at an outdoor music festival, while the others who were killed were largely civilians in the communities near the Gaza border.
More than 200 people were taken hostage and brought back to Gaza, and only five have been freed.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Israeli forces have launched thousands of airstrikes into Gaza, which has resulted in overwhelming destruction. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes. Hamas has been in charge of Gaza for about 15 years, and Israeli leaders said following the attack that it’s no longer tenable for their national security for Hamas to be in power in the Gaza Strip.
There have also been outbreaks of violence in the West Bank and Israel’s northern territory near the border with Lebanon.
