After the assassination of Hamas leader Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar will take his place in the Islamist organization. He is considered the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack and is among Israel's most wanted terrorists.
Hamas has announced that Yahya Sinwar is the new head of the radical Islamist organization. Sinwar will succeed Ismail Haniyeh at the top of Hamas' political bureau after Haniyeh was killed in an attack in Tehran last week. Iran and Hamas blame Israel for the attack, the Netanyahu government has not commented on the topic.
Sinwar is considered the puppet master behind the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. Then about 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed, many of them civilians. According to observers, Sinwar's election is perceived as a provocation.
The new Hamas leader lives in an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip. It is believed that he is probably hiding in the tunnels dug under the enclave by Hamas. He has not spoken publicly since the start of the war, which Israel launched in response to the terrorist attacks on October 7, writes “The New York Times".
His predecessor Haniyeh lived in the Qatari capital Doha and was considered the head of Hamas diplomacy. Sinwar's former deputy - Mohammed Deif was killed in an Israeli missile attack in July. Last week, Israel confirmed that Deif was dead.
Israel: "A sworn terrorist"
Sinwar is also a target for Israel. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari recently said in an interview with Al Arabiya: "There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and that is next to Mohammed Deif and the other terrorists of October 7".
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the new Hamas leader as a "a sworn terrorist". His appointment is "another compelling reason to remove him quickly and eradicate this disgusting organization from the face of the earth," Katz wrote on the X platform.
The Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is an ally of Hamas, praised Sinwar's selection. It said it was "a strong message" to Israel, the US and their allies that Hamas is firm in its principles and united in its important decisions to continue on the "path of resistance".
„The Butcher of Khan Yunis"
Sinwar is part of the generation that created Hamas. He was born in 1962 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern part of Giza. His family comes from the coastal city of Ashkelon, which is now part of Israel. Sinwar spent more than two decades in Israeli detention, where he learned Hebrew. He was released in 2011 when Israel swapped 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one soldier held by Hamas, the New York Times reported.
When Hamas formed during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s, known as the First Intifada, Sinwar helped create the organization's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. In the early years of the Islamist movement, he was responsible for hunting down potential Israeli collaborators within its own ranks. His actions were so brutal that he earned the nickname "the Butcher of Khan Younis." ARD recalls.
Sinwar's election comes at a time when the Middle East is preparing for the response of Iran and its proxies - including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, to attack Israel in response to the assassinations of Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.