By Bassem Mroue | Unbiased Press
BEIRUT (AP) — The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Tuesday it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as 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 it seeks to destroy Hamas and its leadership after the October 7 attack in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 hostage.
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 attack. 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 appeared in public but maintained an iron grip on Hamas’ rule. Close to Deif and the armed wing known as the Qassam Brigades, he worked to build up the group’s military capabilities.
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.