In September 2017, Russia hosted Saleh Arouri, a senior official in Hamas' military wing, whom only a few months earlier Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman had classed as a "dangerous terrorist."
In Moscow, Arouri met with the deputy foreign minister for Middle East affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov. Israel was outraged and protested it with unusual vehemence to Bogdanov's boss, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin, a native of Russia and Russian speaker who assists Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his contacts with Russia, sent Lavrov a detailed document listing Arouri's terrorist acts and tried to put a personal touch on Israel's objection to the meeting by telling Lavrov that the three teens who were murdered in June 2014 – an act for which Arouri claimed responsibility in the name of Hamas – had been abducted from a bus stop in Alon Shvut, where his own family used to live. Elkin told Lavrov that his own son waited at that same stop nearly every day.
Now, a year later and in the midst of another round of Hamas terrorist, Israel has eased up on Arouri. He might not be a welcome guest, but for the first time in years Israel is allowing the man who, according to Lieberman, "is responsible for deadly attacks against Israel by Hamas" – to enter Gaza for a few days to take part in Hamas' negotiations with Israel and the Egyptians to try and settle the situation in the Gaza Strip. Arouri, who is currently deputy leader of Hamas' political wing, is even entering Gaza with an Israeli security detail to ensure that not a single hair on his head is harmed. At least not this time.
Arouri's role in the talks for an arrangement in Gaza, and his close ties to Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar, call for his strategy and tactics to be scrutinized, particularly because they have a direct effect on how Hamas behaves in its talks with Israel. We should start with Arouri and Sinwar's bottom line – a total refusal to return the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who were killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, as part of the short-term cease-fire that Egypt and the U.N. are now trying to broker. Arouri and Sinwar are also unwilling to consider the release of Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, two Israeli civilians who have been held captive since crossing the border fence in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
As far as Sinwar and Arouri are concerned, the negotiations on the return of Israel's fallen soldiers and captives must take part separately and only after quiet and basic humanitarian aid is restored to Gaza. Their price for the return of the bodies and the captives is high: the release of 80 Palestinians who were released from prison as part of the trade for captive soldier Gilad Schalit and then reimprisoned for terrorist activity and the release of any remaining Hamas operatives still imprisoned in Israel – even ones whose hands are drenched in blood, like Abdullah Barghouti, who is currently serving 67 life sentences. Barghouti oversaw dozens of terrorist attacks and suicide bombings that claimed 66 lives and left some 500 wounded in some of the worst bombings of the early 2000s – the bombings at the Sbarro pizzeria, Ben-Yehuda Street, and Café Moment in Jerusalem, and the bus bombing on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv.
The duo's insistence on their prisoners being freed is not at all random. Sinwar himself, who was sentenced to five life sentences in prison for terrorism, was released as part of the Schalit deal. He left many friends behind in prison, many of whose hands were as bloody as his own, and he feels he owes them something. Arouri's story is similar. He was imprisoned in Israel for years and released in 2010 with the stipulation that he leave the country. Arouri closely oversaw the negotiations that led to Schalit's release and even held the Palestinian prisoners portfolio for a brief time.
Abbas is concerned
After Israel deported him, Arouri tried to set himself up in Jordan. But the Jordanians were afraid of him and refused to allow him to stay. He then made his way to Syria, but the war there prompted him to leave Syria for Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his people extended Arouri a warm welcome. Arouri spent about six years there and from Istanbul masterminded a number of attempted terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria. Only pressure from Israel and the United States prompted Turkey to cast him out from its borders. His next stop was Qatar, but the continued pressure from Israel and the U.S. forced him to pack up and move yet again, this time to Lebanon. In Beirut, Hezbollah welcomed Arouri with open arms. Once there, he began strengthening Hamas' ties with Iran (which also backs Hezbollah), which he said was the only country willing to publicly supply aid to Hamas, both practical an in the form of advice from experts.
Years ago, Arouri said that "the resistance [is] the essence of Palestinian existence." Arouri explained that Hamas in Gaza was always in one of two situations: "Either preparing for a fight or fighting. Nothing else matters to Hamas."
That characterization, it would appear, also applies to Arouri himself – nothing else matters to him. He is either fighting or preparing to fight. His actions in recent years as head of Judea and Samaria in the headquarters of Hamas abroad prove it – he never stopped trying to execute terrorist attacks in his assigned area or improve Hamas' military infrastructure there.
Not many people remember, but there were two parts to Arouri's grand plans, which the Shin Bet security agency exposed in 2014. The better-known part of the plan involved a series of plots for major terrorist attacks that could have caused heavy casualties. Arouri's people planned to abduct Israelis in Judea and Samaria as well as abroad; a series of incursions into Israeli settlements; blowing up a booby-trapped car in Israeli city centers; and attacks on both the light rail and Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. The second part of the master plan entailed overthrowing the Palestinian Authority and replacing it with Hamas. According to the Shin Bet, many of the 93 suspects it arrested at the time – residents of 37 different Palestinian villages throughout Judea and Samaria, were part of the plan to stage a coup against the PA. Arouri took care to funnel over a million shekels ($270,000) into the area and purchase guns for use in the planned attacks.
The central role Arouri – the man who supposedly planned to overthrow PA President Mahmoud Abbas – is playing in the talks between Israel and Hamas is a thorn in Abbas' side, and Abbas has no motivation to help reach a cease-fire deal, even though he has a part to play in the framework for a cease-fire that the Egyptians and the U.N. are trying to put in place. Abbas will be asked to remove the sanctions he put in place against Hamas in April of 2017 in response to the attempted assassination in Gaza of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Abbas cut back the money the PA supplied for health care in Gaza, as well as money earmarked to pay for water and electricity for the residents of Gaza.
Abbas is a major obstacle in the way of a cease-fire. The PA leader is insisting that Hamas accept his conditions that the PA take responsibility for the Gaza Strip. He is also insisting that any agreement with Hamas rest on the reinstatement of PLO institutions in Gaza and not on a Hamas-PA reconciliation or a presidential election in the PA. Abbas isn't hiding his fear that a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel will sever the last remaining ties that link Gaza to the Palestinian Authority. For Abbas, Arouri is a red flag that reminds him how big a danger Hamas represents.
Rockets from Judea and Samaria
Israel is wise to Arouri and the role he plays in the cease-fire talks with Hamas in Gaza. Arouri's past and his aspiration of relaunching lethal terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria gave the Israeli side pause – was there room to make additional demands on Hamas as part of the cease-fire framework – a commitment by Arouri and Hamas abroad to stop activity designed to incite terrorism in Judea and Samaria? It's still not clear if the idea is acceptable, or whether the issue has been raised with Hamas, but the reasoning is clear.
Since he was released from prison, Arouri hasn't stopped trying to import terror to Judea and Samaria. In the name of Hamas, he claimed responsibility for the kidnap and murder of Gil-ad Shaer, Naftali Frankel, and Eyal Yifrach in 2014. He was involved in organizing and directing the large-scale Hamas infrastructure in Judea and Samaria that the Shin Bet has uncovered in recent years. He even tried to start manufacturing rockets and missiles that Hamas would fire at cities in central Israel and on the coast. He spoke about the plan once, expressing hope that the "resistance" in Judea and Samaria would manage to procure rockets, and when he was asked if that was a possibility, he made it clear that "in the Gaza Strip, rockets were manufactured under a siege, so [we] can also overcome the difficulties and make rockets in Judea and Samaria."
Israel first arrested Arouri, a native of the village of Aroura near Ramallah, in 1992. He was sentenced to five years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization. Since then, he has served additional sentences of various lengths. He was last released on March 30, 2010, on the condition that he leave the country. The circumstances of his release and the agreement are still under wraps. There were rumors (which were denied) that Israel made a deal with him that if he helped negotiate the release of Schalit, he would be let out and deported. But the truth is almost certainly less complicated and the administrative detention order under which he was imprisoned could not be extended due to a lack of evidence.
What is certain is that Israel bitterly regrets sending him out of the country.
"In hindsight, it's clear that it would have been easier to keep tabs on him from the West Bank," one senior security official said.
"He knows Israel very well, he speaks fluent Hebrew, he's very devout, he is devoted to the renewed closeness between Hamas and Iran and sees the big picture," the official explained, adding that Hezbollah helped Arouri move to the Dahiya neighborhood of Beirut, one of the most secure places in Lebanon.
Lowering the price
Prior to the latest deterioration in Gaza-adjacent communities late Wednesday and Thursday, Israel and Hamas were conducting talks on two different timelines. The immediate one focused on securing a sustained cease-fire, one that would include Hamas stopping the violent border protests and its campaign of arson terrorism using burning balloons and kites. Israel would apparently be expected to restore full activity at the Kerem Shalom crossing. But that isn't enough for Hamas. It is demanding that Israel increase the supply of electricity to Gaza and remove the economic blockade.
The longer-term talks aim at a broader deal that would include the return of Goldin and Shaul's bodies as well as the captives Mengistu and Al-Sayed. The talks have raised the possibility of a seaport for the use of Gaza being built in Alexandria, as well as a power station and airport in Sinai – all of which would be constructed under the auspices of the U.N., under Egyptian oversight and with funding from Qatar, the European Union, and the U.S. The first stage of the infrastructure project would entail an investment of $650 million. Hamas would prefer that these facilities be built inside the Gaza Strip, but Israel refuses. Israel is worried that if they were erected in Gaza, without any inspection, Hamas would exploit them to rearm itself.
Meanwhile, the Goldin and Shaul families continue to advocate for the return of their sons' remains and are unwilling to accept the separation between the two different "arrangements." Professor Simcha Goldin, Hadar's father, said this week that U.S. President Donald Trump had ensured that North Korea returned bodies of U.S. soldiers it was holding captive before sitting down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"No one can tell us that Hamas is tougher than North Korea," Goldin said.
In an interview to Channel 20, Goldin even rejected claims that pressure from the families hurt the negotiations and stressed that when it came to Hamas, there was "no question of price," so the families' pressure could not adversely affect the process.
"We aren't demanding the release of terrorists. All we want is to go into negotiations in a position of power, a position of pressure on Hamas and Hamas feeling that continuing to hold onto the bodies of Hadar and Oron is a burden [for them]. Regretfully, the person who for four years has raised the 'price' every time he gives into Hamas' demands is the prime minister. We, the Goldin family, are the only ones who are lowering the price, by presenting a firm stance," he said.
