IRAN’S THREATVitriolic Reactions to Arouri's Killing Highlight His Importance to the Iranian Regime’s “Axis of Resistance”

The death on 2 January 2024 of Saleh Al-Arouri, a leading Hamas financier and military leader, resulted in threats of retribution against Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah and other regional proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Similar to the killing of Qassim Soleimani, the head of Quds Force, in 2020 in Baghdad, and the killing of Seyed Razi Mousavi, a senior adviser of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Quds Force (IRGC-QF), in 2022 in Syria, Al-Arouri’s death led to vitriol and incitement against the Jewish state.  

Al-Arouri was both a driver of Hamas’ growing capabilities and ambitions as an armed group and a key broker of its deepening alliance with Tehran’s network of regional terrorist proxies. 

The strength of the reaction to Al-Arouri’s death is a testament to his importance to the so-called “axis of resistance” – a network of Tehran-backed Islamist terror groups in Gaza and the West Bank, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, which have united under Iranian regime support with the common aim of destroying Israel and striking Jewish targets. 

In a speech on January 3, General Esmail Qaani, IRGC Qods Force commander, mentioned the killing of Arouri along with that of the IRGC commander in Syria, Sayyed Razi Moussavi, stating that it “show[s] the extent of the enemy’s desperation.” He continued that despite Arouri’s death, the “Islamic Republic [of Iran] will not give up on the methodology of uprooting the Zionist regime.”  

Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani also threatened the United States over Arouri’s death, stating that “The consequences of this terror will be felt by [the US].”  

Blaming Al-Arouri’s death on Israel, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, called the killing a “cowardly” and “barbaric aggression” as well as “an atrocious crime” by “the Zionist enemy.” Haniyeh went on to threaten that “the Nazi Zionist occupation bears the responsibility for its consequences.” Referring to the fact that Al-Arouri died in Lebanon, Haniyeh called the killing a “complete terrorist act and a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”  

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, called Al-Arouri a “friend and confidant,” and threatened that Al-Arouri’s death would “not go unpunished.” Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian regime proxy in Iraq, called the killing a “gutless treacherous action.” The Houthis of Yemen, another Iranian regime proxy, promised that the killing would strengthen their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.