Yahya Sinwar Loss of life: The Israeli Protection Forces (IDF) eradicated Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in a recent airstrike in Gaza. The killing of the Hamas chief, one of many masterminds behind the October 7 assaults final 12 months, was confirmed by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
Earlier than returning to Gaza and taking on as its high chief, Sinwar, 61, had spent 20 years in Israeli prisons. He was introduced as the brand new chief of the militant group Hamas following the loss of life of Ismail Haniyeh in July earlier this 12 months.
Sinwar, who was a main Israeli goal, had managed to outlive a number of Israeli airstrikes for months hiding within the maze of tunnels beneath Gaza. Israel had positioned a $400,000 bounty for proving any form of info that may assist in monitoring him down.
Following the killing of the Hamas chief, a brand new query has risen once more about who would be the subsequent to steer the militant group as Sinwar’s loss of life leaves a vacuum ready to be stuffed.
Right here’s A Listing Of Figures Who Can Lead Hamas
Mahmoud al-Zahar
One of many founding members of Hamas, Mahmoud al-Zahar, is a frontrunner to succeed Sinwar and take up the management of the group. Al-Zahar is thought for his hardline stance. He performed a really essential position in formulating the ideological framework of the group.
The framework of the militant group focuses on each militant resistance towards Israel and Islamist governance in Gaza. He additionally performed a key position within the group’s rise to energy after the 2006 Palestinian legislative polls. He served as its first international minister.
Mohammed Sinwar
Moreover Mahmoud al-Zahar, the title of Yahya Sinwar’s brother Mohammed Sinwar can also be doing the rounds for the militant group’s high put up. He has been a longtime chief throughout the army wing of Hamas, and his rise to management might give out the message of continuity within the methods of the militant group.
Mohammed has been a vital determine within the army operations of the group regardless of maintaining a low profile. He survived a number of assassination makes an attempt by Israel.
Mousa Abu Marzouk
Among the many names of contenders to interchange Sinwar as Hamas chief, Mousa Abu Marzouk is one other possible contender. He’s a senior member of the political bureau of Hamas. He performed an instrumental position in establishing Hamas after breaking ties with the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood within the late 1980s.
Marzouk, who as soon as served as the pinnacle of Hamas’s political bureau, has lengthy been concerned in its organizational and monetary operations. The operations embody proving assist for militant actions.
Marzouk was deported to Jordan and has remained an influential determine throughout the group’s political equipment regardless of being jailed in the US within the 1990s for involvement in terrorist actions.
Regardless of spending a lot of his time in exile, Marzouk’s expertise and ties to the core ideology of Hamas make him a robust candidate within the race for political management.
Mohammed Deif
Mohammed Deif, who is usually rumoured to be both lifeless or severely injured because of Israeli airstrikes, is the elusive commander of Hamas’s army wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Nevertheless, in August 2024, a number of stories claimed that he would possibly nonetheless be alive.
Deif is usually given credit score for being a mastermind of a lot of Hamas’s most extremely strategic operations, which additionally embody the October 7 assault.
Khalil al-Hayya
Khalil al-Hayya, who has performed a vital position in ceasefire negotiations in conflicts which have occurred up to now, is one other outstanding determine inside Hamas’s political bureau to interchange Sinwar. He’s at the moment based mostly in Qatar.
His involvement within the 2014 cease-fire talks with Israel speaks volumes about his potential to interact in high-level negotiations. Moreover, his management might provide a extra diplomatic route for the militant group.
In 2007, Al-Hayya survived an airstrike by Israel that claimed the lives of members of his household. The sort of political acumen he possesses, accompanied by his connections to worldwide mediators, significantly in Doha, makes him a determine that each Israel and Hamas might work with in cease-fire talks.
