Yahya Sinwar has been “unanimously” chosen as the successor to Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31. Sinwar is reported to be more extreme than his predecessor and is widely understood to be the architect of the October 7 attacks in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 hostages taken to Gaza.
His appointment, alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued regional provocations, deals another blow to chances of a ceasefire and the long-awaited return of the hostages.
Sinwar was born in 1962 in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. He is viewed as one of the most extreme figures in Hamas. Sinwar has been jailed in Israel on several occasions and helped to establish the group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.
