Hamas slams US envoy over call for leader's capture

By Nour Abo Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas has decried U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt's call for the capture of the group's deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri.

Greenblatt's call "reflects the policy of terrorism practiced by the U.S. administration in the region," Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif al-Qanua said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the envoy's call "proves that Washington is teaming up with the [Israeli] occupation in targeting the leaders of our people".

On Monday, Greenblatt accused the Hamas deputy leader of committing "abhorrent crimes".

"Deputy leader of the Hamas Political Bureau and known terrorist Salih al-Aruri [Saleh al-Arouri] is wanted for committing abhorrent crimes.

You can help make the world safer by providing information confidentially about him and his location," he said on Twitter.

Last year, the U.S. State Department officially offered cash rewards for any information leading to the capture of al-Arouri, along with two leaders of Lebanese group Hezbollah, Khalil Yousef Harb and Hisham Ali Tabtbaie

In 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department added al-Arouri’s name to its list of “terrorists”.