Hamas names October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar as new leader in show of defiance
- Announcement comes as the Middle East braces for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies against Israel
Hamas named Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the October 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader in a dramatic sign of the power of the Palestinian militant group’s hardline wing after his predecessor was killed in a presumed Israeli strike in Iran.
The selection of Sinwar, a secretive figure close to Iran who worked for years to build up Hamas’ military strength, was a defiant signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting after 10 months of destruction from Israel’s campaign in Gaza and after the assassination of Sinwar’s predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh.
It is also likely to provoke Israel, which has put him at the top of its kill list after the October 7 attack, in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 as hostages.
The announcement on Tuesday came at volatile moment. Fears are high of an escalation into a wider regional war, with Iran vowing revenge against Israel over Haniyeh’s killing and Lebanon’s Hezbollah threatening to retaliate over Israel’s killing of one of its top commanders in an air strike in Beirut last week.
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World reacts to air strikes killing Hamas leader in Iran and Hezbollah commander in Beirut
American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to salvage negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, shaken by Haniyeh’ killing.