Hamas on Tuesday named Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 last year, as its new leader after his predecessor was killed in a presumed Israeli strike in Iran.
The selection of Sinwar, who worked for years to build up Hamas’ military strength, was a signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting after 10 months of destruction from Israel’s campaign in Gaza and after the assassination of Sinwar’s predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh.
It is also likely to provoke Israel, which has put him at the top of its kill list after last year’s attack, in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 as hostages.
Photo: AFP
US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to salvage negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement that it named Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau to replace Haniyeh, who was killed in a blast that Iran and Hamas blamed on Israel.
Israel has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
Also last week, Israel said it had confirmed the death of the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike last month in Gaza.
Hamas has not confirmed his death.
In reaction to the appointment, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told Saudi Arabia-owned al-Arabiya television: “There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the October 7th terrorists. That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him.”
Israel’s killings of multiple senior Hamas officials over the past few months left Sinwar as the most prominent figure in the group. His selection signals that the leadership on the ground in Gaza — particularly the armed wing known as the Qassam Brigades — has taken over from the leadership in exile, which has traditionally maintained the position of the overall leadership to navigate relations with foreign allies and diplomacy.
Haniyeh, who had lived in self-imposed exile in Qatar since 2019, had played a direct role in negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza — although he and other Hamas officials always ran proposals and positions by Sinwar.
Speaking to al-Jazeera television after the announcement, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said that Sinwar would continue the ceasefire negotiations.
“The problem in negotiations is not the change in Hamas,” Hamdan said, blaming Israel and the US for the failure to seal a deal.
However, he said Sinwar’s selection was a sign that the group’s will had not been broken.
Hamas “remains steadfast in the battlefield and in politics,” he said. “The person leading today is the one who led the fighting for more than 305 days and is still steadfast in the field.”
Hamas’ allies Iran and Hezbollah issued statements praising Sinwar’s appointment.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Sinwar “has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to concluding the ceasefire.”
Sinwar must “decide whether to move forward with a ceasefire that manifestly will help so many Palestinians in desperate need, women, children, men who are caught in a crossfire... It really is on him,” Blinken said.
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