Yahya Sinwar, Hamas senior leader in the
Gaza Strip and the architect of the Oct. 7 massacre, has been chosen to
lead the terrorist organization’s so-called political bureau, replacing
Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31.
“Hamas announces the selection of leader
Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement,” the
Islamist terror group said in an official statement cited by Arabic
media on Tuesday night.
As Hamas published the statement, air-raid
sirens were activated in Israeli towns near Gaza, with the Israel
Defense Forces confirming that rockets were launched from the Strip. No
casualties were reported.
Last week’s killing of Haniyeh in a bombing assassination attributed to Israel left a significant vacuum in Hamas’s leadership. Reports had
previously indicated that the terrorist organization was considering
the appointment of a relatively unknown successor, at least temporarily.
Haniyeh was viewed by some in Jerusalem as an obstacle to a hostages-for-terrorists ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Sinwar, 61, is widely believed to have
masterminded the Oct. 7 assault, in which Hamas terrorists murdered some
1,200 people and wounded thousands while raping, torturing, burning and
mutilating their victims. Terrorists also took more than 250 hostages
back to Gaza.
‘A cold disregard for human life’
On Oct. 14, Israel Defense Forces
Spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told journalists that Sinwar and his
command team “are in our sights.”
“Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil. He is
the mastermind behind this, like [Osama] bin Laden was. He built his
career on murdering Palestinians when he understood they were
collaborators. That’s how he became known as the butcher of Khan Yunis
[in southern Gaza],” said Hecht.
Sinwar was
convicted on multiple murder counts by an Israeli court and sentenced
to five life sentences, which he was supposed to serve until his death.
However, in October 2011, he was released from prison—having served 22
years—as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
Following his release, Sinwar gained power
and popularity within Hamas, becoming its Gaza leader in 2017 by
defeating Haniyeh in a vote. Sinwar is now believed to be hiding in the
tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip, surrounded by Israeli hostages used
as human shields.
According to U.S. military intelligence, Sinwar has
been facing internal calls for Hamas to lay down its arms because it
is being blamed for the growing suffering in Gaza after ten months of
fighting the IDF.
However, the terror leader, who enjoys good relations with Iran, has reportedly pushed Hamas to take a hardline stance in hostage talks.
In February, during a push for a truce deal, Sinwar sent
a message to Hamas officials telling them to avoid concessions and
continue to push unrealistic demands as mounting “high civilian
casualties” would place global pressure on Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported in June.
“We have the Israelis right where we want
them,” he said in a note sent to officials looking to close a deal via
Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
The Journal reviewed “dozens of
messages” sent by Sinwar in which “he’s shown a cold disregard for human
life and made clear he believes Israel has more to lose from the war
than Hamas,” the newspaper said.
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