IDF claims to arrest sisters of slain Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri

Tel Aviv, Jan 15 (IANS) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has claimed to have arrested two sisters of slain Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in an airstrike in Beirut earlier this month.In a statement on Sunday, the military said they were arrested in two separate raids in the West Bank.Dalal al-Arouri (52) and Fatima al-Arouri (47) were taken into custody from Arura town and Al-Bireh city, respectively.Without providing additional details, the IDF said they were arrested for “inciting terror against the State of Israel".Arura, located north of Ramallah, was the hometown of Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed on January 2 along with six other Hamas members in the Israeli drone attack that targeted an office of the militant group in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.Saleh al-Arouri's assassination had sent shock waves within the Hamas and Hezbollah as he was top leader to be killed since the war began on October 7, 2023.In two back-to-back televised addresses, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasarullah had threatened to retaliate in full might since the killing occurred in Lebanon.Except for minor skirmishes in north Israel, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has not acted much. According to military analysts, this was a clear case of Hezbollah not joining the war front. The Lebanon-based militant group had been by both Israel and the US that yje situation would escalate into a full fledged war and that there would be major casualties. --IANS aal/ksk

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