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Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar – its leader in Gaza and one of the planners of the October 7 terror attack on Israel – as the new head of its political bureau, following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh last week.
In a statement today, the group announced "the selection of Commander Yahya Sinwar as head of the movement's political bureau, succeeding the martyred leader Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him".
Israel has publicly accused Sinwar of being the "mastermind" behind Hamas' terror attack against Israel on October 7 – though experts say he is likely one of several – making him one of the key targets of its war in Gaza.
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He has remained at large in the vast warren of tunnels trenched beneath Gaza, moving frequently and possibly surrounded by hostages as human shields, US officials believe.
Sinwar's predecessor Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran last week, raising fears that Israel's conflict with Hamas and its allies could develop into a multi-front, fully-fledged war in the Middle East. The Iranian government and Hamas say that Israel carried out the assassination. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
Becoming Hamas' political leader consolidates Sinwar's power within the movement but could cast uncertainty on next steps for ceasefire and hostage negotiations with Israel.
Analysts say that while Sinwar's viewpoint has always been critically influential in the negotiations, his difficulty in communicating with the outside world means that the details of negotiating with mediators from Qatar and Egypt have fallen to other Hamas officials, led by Haniyeh until his assassination last week.
"Even though Sinwar was not physically at the negotiating table with the mediators, he has been consulted at every critical juncture in the negotiations," CNN's Jeremy Diamond said today.
"That often contributed to delays in the negotiations, with it sometimes taking days for messages to reach him and for his response to be received by Hamas officials in Qatar or Cairo."
When about Sinwar's selection, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari told the Saudi network Al Arabiya, "There's only one place we are designating for Yahya Sinwar, and that's right next to Mohammed Deif and all the other terrorists who are responsible for October 7 [attacks]. It's the only place we are preparing and designating for him."
Israel said last week that Hamas' military chief Deif, was killed in a strike it carried out in southern Gaza last month – a report Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied.
Sinwar may be one of the three most senior Hamas leaders in Gaza to remain alive. In March, the White House said Israel killed Marwan Issa, the second in command of the military wing.
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'Returned the decision-making to Gaza'
A longtime figure in the Islamist Palestinian group, Sinwar was responsible for building up Hamas' military wing before forging important new ties with regional Arab powers as the group's civilian and political leader.
He was elected to Hamas' main decision-making body, the Politburo, in 2017 as the political leader of Hamas in Gaza branch. However, he has since become the Politburo's de facto leader, according to research by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
He has been designated a global terrorist by the US Department of State since 2015, and was sanctioned by the United Kingdom and France.
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