BEIRUT (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday for the funeral of top Hamas official Saleh al-Aruri amid calls for revenge and pro-resistance slogans.
Earlier Wednesday, the Hamas Movement announced that the Israeli occupation regime assassinated Saleh al-Aruri, deputy head of its political bureau, and two of his companions in an attack that targeted a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Draped in Palestinian and Hamas flags, Aruri’s coffin and two other Hamas members, Azzam Al-Aqra’ and Muhammad Al-Rayes, killed in the Israeli strike were first taken to a Beirut mosque for prayers before being marched to the Palestine Martyrs Cemetery at the Shatila refugee camp.
Aruri’s automatic rifle was placed on his coffin at the prayer service, and heavy gunfire rang out during the procession, drowning out chants of “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) by mourners waving Palestinian flags.
“Abu Obeida, bomb Tel Aviv,” mourners shouted, addressing the shadowy spokesman of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades armed wing.
The funeral was attended by Palestinian officials, including senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, as well as representatives of some Lebanese political groups.
“The enemy is running away from its failures and defeats [in Gaza] to Lebanon,” head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haneyya, said in a speech aired during the funeral.
He added that the killing of Aruri in Beirut “is a proof of [Israel’s] bloody mentality.”
