The new head of the political wing of Hamas, who is Yahya Sinwar

Last Updated on August 8, 2024 8:45 am

Sinwar, born in 1962 to Ghazar Khan Yunis, is considered one of Hamas’ most astute officials.

Yahya Sinwar has been appointed as the new head of the political wing of Hamas. He was previously serving as the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

Al Jazeera reported this information on Tuesday.

Sinwar’s predecessor Ismail Haniya was killed in Tehran last Tuesday. There have been conflicting reports on the cause of his death. However, Iran and Hamas claim that Israel is responsible for the killing.

Yesterday’s announcement came at a time when Iran could attack Israel at any moment to avenge Hania’s death.

Israel has neither admitted nor denied responsibility for killing Haniya on July 31.

Sinwar is considered one of the masterminds of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli territory. According to analysts, Sinwar will take over and lead Hamas from an undisclosed location in Gaza during this troubled time.

Sinwar is considered an enemy in the eyes of Israel.

It is not clear how Sinwar, who is hiding in an undisclosed location, will communicate with Hamas operatives, conduct daily political activities and participate in the Gaza ceasefire talks.

Israel has publicly stated that it wants to kill Sinwar.

Sinwar, born in 1962 to Ghazar Khan Yunis, is considered one of Hamas’ most astute officials.

In the 1980s, he was arrested several times for participating in anti-Israel protests at the Islamic University of Gaza.

After graduating, he established the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, with fighters.

Haniya at the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Pezeshkian. Photo: AFP

Sinwar joined Hamas as one of its leaders shortly after Sheikh Ahmad Yassin founded Hamas in 1987. Israel arrested him the following year and sentenced him to life in prison for four separate crimes. He received a total of 426 years of imprisonment. He was accused of involvement in the killing of two Israeli soldiers and four suspected Palestinian spies.

He learned Hebrew while imprisoned in an Israeli prison for 23 years. At this time, he got an idea about the internal politics and other activities of Israel. He was released under a prisoner exchange deal in 2011. Hamas released Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Sinwar.

Sinwar joined the political wing of Hamas in 2012. At this time, he continued to coordinate with Qassam Brigade.

Sinwar played a key political and military role during Israel’s seven-week invasion of Gaza in 2014. The following year, the US designated him as an ‘international terrorist’.

In 2017, Sinwar was appointed as head of Hamas in Gaza when Haniyeh was elected as head of Hamas’ political wing.

Sinwar did not open his mouth even after October 7, even though Hania regularly appeared in public.

Hamas launched an ambush on Israeli territory on October 7. A thousand and 197 people were killed in this attack, most of them civilians.

251 people were taken hostage by Hamas, 111 of whom are still detained in Gaza. The Israeli military said 39 of the hostages had already been killed.

Since that day, Israel has started indiscriminate and retaliatory massacres in Gaza. At least 39,653 Palestinians were killed in this attack. 91 thousand 535 people were injured. Most of the casualties were women and children.