The assassination of martyred leader Saleh al-Arouri in the heart of the Lebanese capital of Beirut is evidence of the brutal, bloody creed of the Israeli occupation and the approach it has been taking for decades, Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Thursday.

During the funeral procession of martyred Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri and his two slain comrades, Haniyeh highlighted how the Israeli occupation's policy of assassinations "has long been in use, affecting the leadership of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, such as Sayyed Abbas al-Mousawi" who was assassinated by the Israeli occupation in 1992.

"This massacre will serve as a bloody testimony to the occupation's brutality, just as the Sabra and Shatila massacre," Haniyeh said.

"The enemy's hopes were shattered after it thought it could frustrate the masses through assassinations," the Hamas leader said. "We will follow in the path of armed liberation in loyalty to the blood of the martyrs in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, and all the fronts of Resistance supporting our people and Gaza."

Today, he said, "Palestine and Lebanon and the remainder of the Ummah bid farewell to valiant men who went through the most ferocious battles [...] Sheikh al-Arouri bore his responsibilities as a commander in the freedom fighting Hamas Resistance movement, and he was a chief commander in the West Bank, setting the strategic course [to be followed by the Resistance]."

"The enemy failed to despair the Resistance and impose its conditions upon it during negotiations just as it will fail to force [Hamas] to abandon its strategies," Haniyeh vowed.

"The West Bank is facing numerous challenges from the enemy and from those near to it and far from it, but martyr al-Arouri managed to ensure the Resistance's sustainability in it," he said, praising his martyred comrade.

"The battle is lengthy, but our capabilities and willpower are greater, and we are certain that victory will be attained," Haniyeh concluded by saying.

In turn, Hamas movement senior official Ahmed Abdel Hadi said during the funeral procession, "The enemy is deluded if it thinks that it can weaken the resistance through its cowardly acts, because the blood of the martyrs has always brightened the path of resistance and liberation."

Arouri's assassination not to go unanswered

Hezbollah Palestinian relations official Hassan Hoballah affirmed that "martyr and leader Saleh al-Arouri triumphed over Israel."

Hoballah added during the funeral procession that "the occupation's policy of assassination has increased the strength, fierceness, and determination of the Resistance to the point where Israel fears for its existence."

"The crime committed by the occupation is a compound crime, targeting a leader in the resistance, Lebanese soil, and civilian areas," the Hezbollah official stressed. "This crime will not pass without consequences; the response is imminent, and the enemy should have high expectations."

"The resistance today is not confined to a narrow region - it extends to the Red Sea," he underlined. He addressed the people of the West Bank, saying: "Any bet on anything other than resistance has failed. It will restore the rights to their owners, and it is the only force that will liberate the land."

The Secretary-General of the Islamic Group in Lebanon, Mohammed Taqoush, also mourned the martyr, saying: "Allah willed that Lebanese blood mingles with Palestinian blood,"

"We will continue on the path toward al-Quds and al-Aqsa, and we will preserve the gains made through [Operation] al-Aqsa Flood, and our response will be at the level befitting the status of Sheikh Saleh," he added of martyr al-Arouri.

The deputy head of the Hamas movement's Political Bureau, Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, was laid to rest Thursday following his assassination in an Israeli aggression on Tuesday.

Al-Arouri was buried in the Sabra and Shatila Martyrs' Cemetery, and his funeral procession was also joined by that of martyrs Azzam al-Aqra' and Mohammad al-Rayyes.

The Resistance leader was martyred alongside six of his companions in the Southern Suburb of Beirut.

The head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, mourned on Tuesday the martyrdom of Al-Arouri, as well as that al-Qassam Brigades leaders Samir Fandi and Azzam al-Aqra, and a group of their fellow martyrs, in a "cowardly Israeli aggression".

In a press release, Haniyeh called the Israeli occupation's assassination of al-Aarouri and his companions an "outright terrorist act and a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty," as well as an expansion of the Israeli aggression.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah discussed in his speech on Wednesday al-Arouri's assassination, where he underlined that the crime committed by "Israel" was an act of aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

"The assassination of Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri is a flagrant, dangerous crime that will not go unanswered," he stressed.

Read more: Who is Saleh al-Arouri; Hamas Resistance leader killed by 'Israel'?