Yahya Sinwar replaces Haniyeh as new Hamas leader amid escalating conflict

Palestinian Hamas announced on Tuesday that Yahya Sinwar has become the new political leader of the movement, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who died on Wednesday in Tehran in an attack attributed to Israel. Sinwar was previously the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He is considered one of the architects of the attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.

"The Islamic resistance movement announces that it has chosen commander Yahya Sinwar as the chairman of the political bureau of the movement," stated a Hamas declaration. Hamas is a Palestinian political party and militant movement that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is regarded by the West as a terrorist organisation.

The 61-year-old Sinwar has been hiding in the Gaza Strip from Israeli attacks since 7 October and has not appeared publicly since then. After the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran a week ago, he became the highest-ranking surviving leader of Hamas.

The news of Sinwar's appointment as head of Hamas was celebrated in the Gaza Strip with a rocket barrage, reported Reuters. Sinwar's election is a "definitive signal" to Israel that Hamas will "continue its resistance," a Hamas representative told AFP.

The new Hamas leader was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. In the 1980s, he led the movement's internal security service, which tracked and eliminated individuals suspected of collaborating with the Jewish state.

Sinwar is seen as a relentless enemy of Israel and a ruthless executor, highlighted Reuters. Additionally, his fanatical dedication to Hamas and the fight against Israel is confirmed not only by other Hamas leaders but also by Israeli officials who know him.

According to Israeli services, Sinwar, along with the commander of Hamas's military wing Mohammad Deif, planned the attack on 7 October. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel's history, initiating the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 1,200 people were killed in the attack, and 251 were kidnapped. Deif was killed on 13 July in an Israeli airstrike near Khan Yunis.

At the end of May, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought to prosecute Sinwar, Haniyeh, and Deif for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the attack on Israel on 7 October. In a separate request, the prosecutor also sought the issuance of arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Galant, accusing them of crimes committed during the war in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, nearly 40,000 Palestinians were killed in the conflict.

It is believed that Sinwar continues to lead Hamas's fights against the Israeli military from hiding and is also in contact with movement representatives who are negotiating through intermediaries with Israel for a ceasefire and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas's political leadership resides in Qatar, where Haniyeh also lived permanently.

Source: PAP/WP