Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of Oct. 7 attacks, as new leader after assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

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The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Tuesday it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza and mastermind of the October 7 attacks in Israelas its new leader.

The selection of Sinwar, a secretive figure who leads Hamas hardline and close to Iran, was a defiant move. Sinwar is at the top of Israel’s kill list as they seek to destroy Hamas and its leadership after the October attack in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took around 250 hostages.

Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas
Yahya Sinwar waves to a crowd during an event in Gaza City on April 14, 2023.

Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


Hamas said in a statement that it appointed Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau to replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran last week in a suspected Israeli assassination. Also last week, Israel said it had confirmed the death of the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in Gaza in July. Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Unlike Haniyeh, who lived in exile in Qatar for several years, Sinwar has remained in Gaza. As Hamas’s leader in the territory since 2017, he rarely appears in public but maintains an iron grip on Hamas’ rule. Close to Deif and the armed wing known as the Qassam Brigades, Sinwar worked to build up the group’s military capabilities.

The UN General Assembly votes on a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas
Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gilad Erdan holds up a sign with the contact information of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during the emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly on the war between Israel and Hamas on December 12, 2023.

Michael M Santiago via Getty Images


Sinwar has been in deep hiding since the October 7 attacks, while Israel unleashed its campaign in Gaza and the Palestinian death toll, now close to 40,000, rose.

In an interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari called Sinwar “a terrorist,” adding: “There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and that is next to Mohammed Deif and the rest of the terrorists of October 7 . That is the only place we prepare and intend for him.”