by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The Hamas Palestinian terror organization has named Yahya Sinwar, the man who is believed to have orchestrated the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, as its new highest-ranking leader, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.
The move follows the assassination of former Hamas leader and front man, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran last week. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the Haniyeh’s death, but Iran has vowed revenge against the Jewish state.
Sinwar was chosen by Hamas’s 50-strong Shura Council made up of officials elected by Hamas members in four chapters: Gaza, the West Bank, the diaspora, and security prisoners in Israeli jails, TOI said.
Sinwar’s ascendance means the center of Hamas leadership returns to Gaza: Haniyeh notoriously operated from luxury locations in Qatar while his people suffered in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces have been hunting Sinwar in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack triggered the ongoing war between Hamas and the Jewish state. Around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed during the Hamas attack and 251 people, including women, children, and elderly, were kidnapped to Gaza.
Sinwar has proved elusive, and is believed to be hiding in Hamas’ vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza’s civilian infrastructure “The hunt for Sinwar will not stop until we catch him, dead or alive,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari has said in a statement.
Sinwar “is now the most powerful figure in Hamas, formally too,” Palestinian affairs analyst Ohad Hemo noted during an Israeli Channel 12 TV broadcast. “That was already essentially the case, now it’s official. It’s a show of faith [by Hamas], whose leadership is rapidly shrinking,” Hemo added.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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