Israel has vowed to kill Hamas’ new political leader, and IDF officials have said he only belongs next to the group’s slain military commanders and the remaining “Seventh of October terrorists.”
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ most senior official in the Gaza Strip and one of the masterminds of the massacre that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas, has become Hamas’ new political leader following the July 31 assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
“There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar and that is next to Mohammed Deif and the October 7 terrorists,” IDF Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Saudi news channel Al Arabiya, according to the Associated Press.
Israel said it killed Deif, Hamas’ military chief and mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attack, in a strike in southern Gaza last month. Hamas has not confirmed Deif’s death.
Hamas names Oct. 7 attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar as new leader after Haniya’s assassination
Yahya Sinwar, seen second from the right in Gaza City in December 2022, was previously the leader of Hamas in Gaza. (Ali Jadara/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Yahya Sinwar is a terrorist and is responsible for the most brutal terrorist attack in history on October 7,” Haghari added in an interview with Al Arabiya.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Shinwar has the authority to ensure a ceasefire is reached in Israel’s war with Hamas.
“When it comes to a ceasefire, Sinwar has been and will continue to be the primary decision maker, so this just underscores the fact that the decision on whether to move forward with a ceasefire that will help so many Palestinians, women and children, men caught in the crossfire who desperately need help, really lies with Sinwar,” Blinken said. “It really is up to Sinwar.”
Israel announces killing of Hamas commander Mohammed Deif
Following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh (pictured above) in Tehran, Iran last week, Yahya Sinwar has become Hamas’ new political leader. (Associated Press)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant previously called Deif “Gaza’s Osama bin Laden.”
“Deif operated alongside Yahya Sinwar and provided orders and guidance to Hamas’ military leaders during the war and directed Hamas’ terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in announcing his death earlier this month.
An undated photo of Mohammed Deif, whom Israel claims to have killed during the Gaza war. (Reuters)
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In an attack on October 7, Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages to the Gaza Strip, where Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding.
Fox News’ Scott MacDonald and Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
