International
Yahya Sinwar Appointed New Hamas Chief Amid Rising Tensions
After two days of intense negotiations in Doha, Hamas has appointed Yahya Sinwar as its new overall leader, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week.
Since 2017, Sinwar has been the head of Hamas’s operations in Gaza. In his new role, he will lead the group’s political wing.
A senior Hamas official who confirmed to development noted that the leadership unanimously chose Sinwar to helm the movement.
The announcement arrives at a period of heightened tensions in the Middle East, with Iran and its allies threatening retaliation for Haniyeh’s killing, which they attribute to Israel. Israel has however remained silent on the matter.
Over the two days of deliberations in Doha, Hamas leaders explored various options for their new chief.
Ultimately, the decision came down to two candidates: Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Hassan Darwish, the head of the General Shura Council, which elects Hamas’s Politburo.
The council’s unanimous vote for Sinwar was described by a Hamas official as “a message of defiance to Israel.” The official stated.
“They killed Haniyeh, the flexible person who was open to solutions. Now they have to deal with Sinwar and the military leadership.”
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Ismail Haniyeh, prior to his assassination, was regarded by regional diplomats as a more pragmatic figure within Hamas, instrumental in the group’s political outreach. In contrast, Yahya Sinwar is seen as one of Hamas’s most extreme leaders.
Sinwar is currently at the top of Israel’s most-wanted list. Israeli security agencies believe he orchestrated the October 7, 2023, attacks that resulted in over 1,200 deaths and the abduction of 251 individuals into Gaza.
“The appointment of arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar as the new leader of Hamas, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, is yet another compelling reason to swiftly eliminate him and wipe this vile organisation off the face of the Earth,” stated Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on X.
“Yahya Sinwar is a terrorist, who is responsible for the most brutal terrorist attack in history,” added Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari to the Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya.
Sinwar has not been seen publicly since the October attacks and is believed to be hiding deep underground in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken remarked in June that Sinwar is likely hiding “10 storeys underground.”
Born in 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, Sinwar founded the Hamas security service Majd in the late 1980s, which targeted alleged Palestinian collaborators with Israel.
He has spent a significant portion of his life in Israeli prisons and was sentenced to four life terms after his third arrest in 1988. However, he was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive by Hamas for over five years.
The 61-year-old Sinwar was appointed head of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza in 2017, a position he held until his recent promotion. The U.S. lists Sinwar on its blacklist of “international terrorists.”
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