Special connections: Saleh al-Arouri's relationship with Al-Qassam leaders Al-Aqraa and Effendi

In a revelation highlighting the intricate relationships within Hamas, it has been disclosed that Saleh al-Arouri, Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the movement, had regular meetings with Al-Qassam Brigades leaders Azzam Al-Aqraa and Samir Effendi.

These encounters took place either in the targeted apartment or elsewhere, reflecting their strategic measures of changing locations and maintaining secrecy.

Al-Aqraa, who was expelled to Lebanon by the Israelis from the West Bank in 1992, resided in the Marj El Zhour area alongside hundreds of Palestinian Islamist activists. Since then, Al-Aqraa has not returned to Palestine but has moved between Syria, Turkey, and Lebanon. 

As a military official in the Al-Qassam Brigades, Al-Aqraa's primary mission was organizing confrontations against Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank, hailing from the village of Qabalan in the Nablus Governorate.  

Meanwhile, Samir Effendi serves as a military official for the Al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon. Born in the Rashidiya camp in southern Lebanon, Effendi is connected to military operations in southern Lebanon, mainly south of the Litani River. The Al-Qassam Brigades have repeatedly claimed responsibility for launching missiles towards Israeli settlements, notably Qiryat Shemona. 

Additionally, a unique relationship exists between al-Arouri and Mahmoud Shahin from Taalabaya in the Bekaa Valley and Mohammad Bashasha from Sidon, both affiliated with the Islamic Group in Lebanon. They work directly with al-Arouri in managing the office without directives from the group.

According to sources, Shahin and Bashasha are not associated with the Fajr Forces, the military wing of the group that has announced multiple times the launching of rockets from south of the Litani towards Israeli settlements.

Shahin, a Shiite affiliated with the Islamic Group, received condolences from the Islamic Group and Hamas in Taalabaya. Calls for retaliation against the Israeli assassination operation were echoed in Taalabaya. 

Similarly, Hamas mourned Ahmad Hammoud, one of its members who also fell victim to the assassination operation, in the northern Burj Al-Shemali camp near Tyre.