Sinwar named Hamas’s new chief
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s top leader in Gaza, has been named by the Palestinian group as its new leader following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Yahya Sinwar during an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City, May 24, 2021
Sinwar is 62 and has been given four consecutive life sentences.
He was released from Israeli prison in 2011 and he has rocketed to an influential position in Hamas, leading it in Gaza. The choice of Hamas to name him the leader of the movement sends a signal as far as negotiations and a ceasefire is concerned, Sinwar calls the shots.
Hamas has now made its choice. Sinwar is at the top of the Israel’s hit list. But now he will have the final say on things. Any decisions, any negotiations happening outside of Gaza will have to filter through all the hoops that have to be taken in terms of security in order to get to Yahya Sinwar so that he can have the final say.
That might complicate and prolong any negotiation process. Sinwar masterminded the October 7 attacks on Israel and has remained in Gaza. As Hamas’s leader in the territory since 2017, he rarely appeared in public. Sinwar has worked to build up the group’s military capabilities.
As expected, Israel assassinates the more moderate leader, the more radical one takes his place. Netanyahu gets what he wanted, to prolong the war.
Hamas answers what ‘the day after Gaza’ looks like
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says Hamas’s decision to appoint Sinwar as its head is a move that shows “defiance” and “resistance”.
If Hamas leaders have had difficulty finding a safe place anywhere in the Middle East, “now it’s clear that the top leader is right there somewhere in the tunnels [in Gaza] resisting,” Bishara said.
“Hamas just answered that the day after Gaza, is Gaza. The day after Gaza, it’s Hamas in Gaza. The day after Gaza, it’s Sinwar on the helm of Hamas in Gaza.”
More on Hamas’s new chief Sinwar
- He was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza in 1962.
- His family were refugees from Majdal Askalan, or what became Ashkelon, after the creation of Israel in 1948.
- Sinwar has spent 22 years of his life in Israeli prisons for allegedly planning the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1988.
- An Israeli government assessment of his years in detention described him as ruthless and powerful.
- He used his time in jail to become fluent in Hebrew.
- In 2017, Sinwar succeeded Haniyeh as Hamas’s leader in Gaza.
- After the October 7 attacks, the Israeli military described him as a “dead man walking”.
Sinwar chosen as new Hamas chief ‘unanimously’
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Sinwar was chosen as the Palestinian group’s new chief “unanimously”.
“This shows that the movement is aware of the nature of the stage, and the negotiation was managed by the leadership and Sinwar was always present,” said Hamdan.
“The fact that Hamas chose Sinwar as chief so quickly demonstrates the vitality of Hamas. The team that followed the negotiations during the presence of Haniyeh will follow them during the presence of Sinwar.
“Sinwar’s accurate knowledge of the occupation will strengthen our negotiating position in the next stage.”
