The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network published a statement that was issued by Palestinian prisoners, "in the name of all prisoners in the occupation’s prisons and those who have been released," mourning Hamas politburo Deputy Chief Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, vowing to continue on the path of Resistance despite all violations.

The statement stressed that prisoner institutions "mourn national leader and martyr Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri and his companions who were martyred alongside him," referring to martyred leaders Samir Afandi (Abu Amer) and Azzam al-Aqra, and the martyrs Zaki Shahin, Mohammed al-Reis, Mohammed Bshasha, and Ahmed Hamoud.

It is important to note that the prisoner institutions include the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, and The Supreme National Committee of Detainees.

The statement dubbed al-Arouri as "the fighter, national leader, freed prisoner, and exiled" Palestinian who was assassinated "in the Lebanese capital, Beirut."

Al-Arouri "who devoted his life to the freedom of his land and people until the last moment of his life" has, according to the statement, "spent a total of about 18 years in Zionist occupation prisons, with his last arrest being in 2007, before he was released in 2010."

Bankrupt policy of assassination

Samidoun, in a separate statement, noted that the assassination of the "national, Arab and international leader of the Palestinian struggle, reflects the same bankrupt policy of assassination that Zionism and imperialism have relied upon to undermine the cause of Palestinian and Arab liberation since the inception of the colonial project in the region."

The network emphasized that "the Zionist regime relies on the assassination weapon against the liberation movement" and mentioned of a number of martyrs such as "Saleh al-Arouri, Fathi Shiqaqi, Abu Ali Mustafa, Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abu Jihad, Kamal Udwan, Mohammed al-Najjar, Basil al-Kubaisi, Kamal Nasser, Wadie Haddad, Ghassan Kanafani, Mohammed Boudia, Basil al-Araj, Tariq Izzedine and Samir Kuntar."

How did martyr Saleh al-Arouri pose a threat to the occupation?

“We are believers, and we hope to conclude our lives with martyrdom, which we hold in high esteem, and that is the great victory in our eyes.", this is what al-Arouri said in an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen on August 25, 2023.

Al-Arouri delivered his speech in response to the growing references to his name by Israeli officials and in the occupation media. Over the past few months, the Israeli media initiated an incitement campaign, specifically targeting al-Arouri, alleging his responsibility for fomenting and fueling resistance in the West Bank. He has since then been described as a "strategic figure" in these narratives.

During the series of Israeli threats directly aimed at the martyr, the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, openly pledged to assassinate al-Arouri. In response, al-Arouri, in his address to Al Mayadeen, asserted that such threats "will not alter his course in the slightest."

Read more: Palestinian Resistance factions mourn martyred leader Saleh al-Arouri