The appointment of Saleh al-Arouri as deputy head of Hamas' political bureau completes the overhaul of the movement’s leadership since the departure of Khaled Meshaal as bureau chief this past summer. The leadership now consists of Meshaal’s successor on the bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, born in Gaza’s al-Shati refugee camp; the movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, a Khan Yunis resident; and Arouri, Haniyeh’s deputy and a native of the West Bank village of Aroureh, near Ramallah. The triumvirate's members are all second-generation Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, grew up in poverty and hardship in teeming refugee camps, and worked their way to the top of the pyramid.
Arouri has been living outside the Israeli-occupied territories in recent years. After his release from an Israeli prison in 2010, he was banned from living in the West Bank and Gaza and ended up in Turkey. In 2015, the Turks expelled him. He moved to Qatar, only to be expelled from there in 2017. Arouri now resides in Beirut. Previous Hamas leaders — Meshaal, Moussa Abu Marzouk (from Rafah, in Gaza) and others — could have settled in the besieged Gaza enclave, but chose instead to live in more luxurious surroundings. Arouri, however, has no choice but to live abroad.
The transformation of Hamas' leadership was clearly reflected in the manner of Arouri’s selection for the No. 2 position. In the past, the Shura Council, the top religious and decision-making body of the Islamist movement, made decisions on all issues of significance, such as the leadership structure and ideology. In Arouri’s case, however, Haniyeh, Sinwar and Mohammed al-Deif, leader of Hamas' military wing, picked Arouri, leaving the Shura Council to rubber-stamp the appointment.
In fact, the Shura Council's standing had begun to erode in 2004 after Israel assassinated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who deferred to the council on every decision despite his indisputably strong leadership, granting it respect and ultimate authority. The council was further diminished during the tenure of Ahmed Jabaari, head of the military wing, whom Israel assassinated eight years later. It now stands devoid of any real influence.
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