Hamas Elects Yahya Sinwar as New Political Chief Following Haniyeh's Assassination

The Palestinian Hamas Group announced the election of Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh.

Ismail Haniyeh, the former head of Hamas's political bureau and a former Palestinian Prime Minister, was assassinated by Israel on July 31 in Tehran.

 Haniyeh was visiting the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, Masoud Bazashkian. Alongside Haniyeh, his bodyguard and a field commander in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Wasim Abu Shaaban, were also killed in the attack.

Yahya Sinwar, born in 1962, is a prominent leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar has been arrested multiple times by Israel and was sentenced to four life terms before being released in a prisoner exchange deal in 2011.

Following his release, he resumed his leadership role within the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. He was elected as the head of Hamas in Gaza in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.

The Israeli government considers Sinwar the primary architect of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation on October 7, 2023, which inflicted significant human and military losses on Israel and exposed vulnerabilities in its intelligence and security apparatus.

In response, Israel has declared that the assassination of Yahya Sinwar is one of the main objectives of its "Iron Swords" operation in Gaza, launched in retaliation for the October 7th attack.