Hamas has appointed Yahya Sinwar as its new leader, after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Sinwar, a secretive and hardline figure with close ties to Iran, is a key target on Israel’s kill list. His appointment comes amid Israel’s intensified campaign against Hamas following the October 7 attack, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages in southern Israel.

The Palestinian group Hamas issued a statement announcing Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran last week in a presumed Israeli strike. Separately, Israel confirmed last week that Mohammed Deif, the chief of Hamas’ military wing, was killed in a July airstrike in Gaza, although Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Unlike Haniyeh, who spent years in exile in Qatar, Sinwar never left Gaza. The local leader of Hamas since 2017, he has rarely been seen in public but has exerted tight control over the movement’s government. Closely aligned with Mohammed Deif and his Qassam Brigades, Sinwar worked to reinforce the military wing of the organization.

Sinwar’s Background and Leadership

Since the October 7 attacks, Sinwar had been in deep hiding as Israel pounded its campaign in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll has mounted to nearly 40,000.

Yahya Sinwar is 61 years old and was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Gaza, south of Khan Younis. He graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza and has repeatedly been arrested by Israel for his involvement in anti-corruption activism.

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In 1987, he was one of the founding leaders of Hamas, established by Shaikh Ahmad Yasin. He was appointed head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip in 2017.

Sinwar spent 23 years in an Israeli jail where he learned Hebrew and studied Israeli affairs, including a mastery of diplomatic politics. He was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.

He is one of the Palestinian militant leaders against whom ICC has issued an arrest warrant pertaining to war crimes on 7 October. The ICC has also sought warrants against some Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Chief Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

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