Hamas appointed Gaza’s top leader, Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, as its new leader after his predecessor was killed in an airstrike in Iran.
The move is sure to provoke Israel, which has put him at the top of its hit list after militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 hostages in an Oct. 7 attack.
“Hamas has elected Commander Yahya Sinwar as head of the movement’s Political Bureau to replace our martyred leader Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him,” it said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces said a “suspicious aerial target” crossed the border from Lebanon before being shot down by Israeli forces.
Yahya Sinwar presided over a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions in his office in Gaza City on April 13, 2022. He was named leader of Hamas on Tuesday. (Associated Press)
Sinwar, a close ally of Iran, has long worked to bolster Hamas’ power. His promotion follows the deaths of Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a suspected bombing in Tehran and a top Hezbollah commander killed in Beirut last week in a suspected Israeli attack.
The killing has raised fears of a broader conflict that could see Israel fighting on multiple fronts.
Iran has vowed to retaliate. Israel accuses Sinwar of masterminding the deadly Oct. 7 attack. Israeli authorities believe he fled into the terrorist group’s vast network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip and surrounded himself with hostages as a human shield.
Israel said last week it had confirmed the death of Hamas’ military chief, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in Gaza in July. Hamas has not acknowledged his death.
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Israeli Defense Forces officials said that Israeli forces had discovered a smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border. (Israel Defense Forces)
Hamas’ Iranian representative, Khaled Kadoumi, called Sinwar “a consensus choice who is supported by all factions and has been consistently involved in the group’s decision-making, including negotiations.” In an audio message to The Associated Press, he said Sinwar knows the political aspirations of Palestinians for statehood and the return of refugees, but that he is also “a fierce fighter on the battlefield.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Shinwal “has been and will continue to be the primary decision maker on any ceasefire.”
He said Sinwar “must decide whether to go ahead with a ceasefire, which would obviously help a lot of Palestinians, women, children, men caught in the crossfire who are in desperate need of assistance. It’s really up to him.”
Sinwar has been Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip since 2017 and exercises an iron fist.
Terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar speaks at the podium during a rally. (Photo by Mohammed Talaten/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
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The International Criminal Court in May issued arrest warrants for Sinwar on war crimes charges over the Oct. 7 attacks, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s defence minister on war crimes charges.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
