“Yahya Sinwar” Takes Over as the New Leader of Hamas

The selection of Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas, was done after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31.

Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas, was already the top official of Hamas in Gaza and had control of Hamas in the Gaza strip, but now he has a bigger responsibility of controlling Hamas’ political wing overall in the world.

“Hamas announces the selection of commander Yahya Sinwar as the head of political bereau of the movement, succeeding the martyr Ismail Haniyeh; may [Allah] have mercy on him,” the Hamas officials said in a brief statement.

Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas, is also considered the mastermind of the October 7 attack by Hamas, in which more than 1000 people were killed and more than 200 were captured.

Sinwar was born in a Gaza refugee camp in the south of Khan Younis. He became the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip in 2017. Sinwar was arrested by Israeli forces in 1988 and was released in 2011. He remained in jail for a period of 23 years.

During his time in jail, Sinwar also learned Israel’s national language, Hebrew, and became well versed in Israeli affairs and domestic politics. Sinwar was released from jail in exchange for Israel’s prisoners of war in 2011.

A large number of missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel just after the selection of Sinwar as the new head of Hamas.

Israel has already issued statements about eliminating the new leader of Hamas.

“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 organization off the face of the earth,” foreign minister Israel, Katz said in a statement on X.

Israel has serious concerns over the selection of Sinwar as he has a more aggressive nature than Haniyeh.

The former leader, martyr Haniyeh, was a diplomatic person, and he became the reason for ceasefires many times between Hamas and Israel in the past. Meanwhile, Sinwar, the new leader of Hamas, is a military leader, and he has less flexibility for Israel.

Haniyeh was seen as a soft-hearted person, while Yahya Sinwar, on the other hand, is viewed as one of Hamas’ most extreme figures. And due to that reason, Sinwar is on Israel’s most wanted list. Sinwar has not been seen in public since the October attacks.