Hamas announced Tuesday that Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds behind the deadly Oct. 7 attack, has been selected as the group’s next political bureau chief, consolidating its power over the militant group as it continues to fight Israel.
Long regarded by Israeli officials as a sophisticated strategist with a deep understanding of Israeli society, Mr. Sinwar has been Hamas’s leader in Gaza since 2017. But he will now also replace Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s former top political leader, who was a key link in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel.
Hamas’s decision was an indication that 10 months into the war, the Palestinian group’s leaders remain firmly behind the decision to attack southern Israel on Oct. 7, analysts said. Since then, the Israeli campaign in Gaza has claimed tens of thousands of lives and devastated large parts of the enclave.
Haniyeh was killed in an explosion last week in Tehran as he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president. Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for his killing, although Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility.
Israeli authorities have vowed to crack down on Sinwar in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack, in which they say about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken captive to Gaza. Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels beneath the enclave to avoid being killed by Israel.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan said Mr Sinwar had been unanimously elected and accepted by all members of the movement.
Mr Hamdan said it was “too early” to discuss how Mr Sinwar’s selection would affect the ceasefire talks. “The team that followed the negotiations during Haniyeh’s presence will continue them under Sinwar’s supervision,” he said.
Born in Khan Yunis, Mr. Sinwar joined Hamas in the 1980s. He was later jailed on charges of murdering Palestinians accused of apostasy or collaborating with Israel. He spent more than two decades in prison in Israel and was finally released in 2011, along with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for a single Israeli soldier held by Hamas.
Typically, Hamas political bureau leaders have been based outside Gaza or the West Bank, as the role has often required travel. In Mr. Sinwar’s case, he seemed unlikely to leave Gaza, even if he avoided being killed by Israel at the end of the war.
Fuad Khuffash, a Palestinian political analyst close to Hamas, said Sinwar’s appointment was “a symbolic decision” that showed many Hamas officials agreed with his approach. “It is more a matter of honor than of practice,” he said.
Even before Oct. 7, Mr. Sinwar was in some ways more influential than Mr. Haniyeh within the organization in his capacity as Hamas’s governor in Gaza. While Haniyeh was the group’s diplomatic face abroad, Mr. Sinwar controlled developments on the ground in Gaza and maintained close ties to Hamas’s military wing, analysts say.
Mr Sinwar has barely appeared since the Oct. 7 attacks, which sparked Israel’s devastating 10-month military campaign in Gaza. But as Hamas’s commander on the ground, he has played a decisive role in deciding whether the group moves toward a ceasefire with Israel.
Without Mr. Sinwar’s approval, no truce could move forward, people familiar with the talks have said. Israeli officials and regional mediators have often spent days waiting for Hamas leaders in Qatar to hear from Mr. Sinwar.
Another senior Hamas post, that of deputy political chief, remains vacant since Israel assassinated Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon, in January. Khuffash suggested that the position could be filled by Khalil al-Hayya, one of the group’s top negotiators with Israel, or Khaled Meshal, a former head of the politburo. Both have been seen as possible successors to Haniyeh.
In May, Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced that he would seek arrest warrants against Mr. Sinwar and two other Hamas leaders. Mr. Khan said that Mr. Sinwar, along with the other Hamas leaders, may have been responsible for serious crimes against humanity, including “the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians.”
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