FILE PHOTO: Hamas Gaza Chief Yahya Sinwar and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh take part in the funeral of senior militant Mazen Fuqaha in Gaza Citywith a new political leader based outside Gaza while his brother, Mohammad Sinwar is expected to assume a bigger role directing the war against Israel in the territory, experts say.
In its leadership deliberations, Hamas must consider not only the preferences of its main backer – Iran – but also the interests of the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, where all the main candidates to take over as politburo chief currently reside. Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack that ignited the devastating Gaza war, was killed by Israeli forces in a gunbattle on Wednesday, the second time in less than three months that Hamas has lost its top leader.Israel confirms death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza:
When Sinwar replaced him, he fused together both the military and political leadership in Gaza, but that does not appear likely this time around. After more than a year of ferocious Israeli attacks that have pounded Hamas, killed thousands of its fighters and eliminated senior figures both inside and out of Gaza, it is not clear how the Islamist group will emerge from this latest blow. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies.