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On August 6, local time, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) issued a statement saying that Yahya Sinwar would replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an attack, as the new leader of Hamas's Political Bureau.

Hamas later emphasized in a statement that the organization decided to choose Sinwar as the leader of its Political Bureau after "in-depth and extensive consultations and deliberations" within its leadership body. This choice reflects Hamas' confidence in Sinwar in "a sensitive period and a complex regional and international situation."

It is reported that Sinwar was born in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip in 1962. He is one of the main founders of Hamas' security agency. He has served as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip for many years and is generally regarded by the outside world as a representative of the "hardliners" within Hamas.

Widely regarded as a "hardliner"

Committed to strengthening Hamas' military strength

It is reported that Hamas leaders are divided into internal and external leaders: external leaders refer to those who live in Arab countries; internal leaders refer to those who are active in frontline areas such as Gaza and the West Bank. The assassinated former leader Haniyeh belongs to the external leader, while the newly appointed Sinwar belongs to the latter. The two represent different factions within Hamas.

Compared with the more moderate Haniyeh, Sinwar is generally regarded as a "hard-line" figure within Hamas. He has close ties with Iran and has been committed to strengthening Hamas's military strength for many years.

In 2011, Israel and Hamas reached a prisoner exchange agreement and released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including Sinwar. After returning to the Gaza Strip, Sinwar's experience in Israel quickly raised his status within Hamas. In 2017, he officially became the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Unlike Haniyeh, who lived in exile in Qatar for many years, Sinwar has remained in Gaza. Since 2017, as the leader of Hamas in the region, although he rarely appears in public, he has always maintained an "iron-fisted control" over Hamas.

Sinwar himself has close ties with Hamas's second-in-command, Mohammed Dave, who was also assassinated earlier, and Qassam Brigades, an armed wing of Hamas. It is reported that Sinwar and Dave worked together to build the military strength of Qassam Brigades.

Some analysts believe that Sinwar has long been behind the scenes in Hamas, but now that he has stepped to the fore, it not only marks the rise of Hamas's "hardliners," but also sends a strong signal to the outside world that Hamas will resist to the end. In the words of a Hamas official, "This appointment is a strong message to the occupying forces (Israel) that Hamas will continue its path of resistance to the end."

There are also reports that Sinwar "is now officially the most powerful figure in Hamas" and that "Hamas' power centre has returned to Gaza and now it is Gaza that has the final say."

Israel regards him as the "number one assassination target"

Hamas says it will continue ceasefire talks after taking office

According to an earlier report by Red Star News, Sinwar has always been an important figure on Israel's assassination list and one of the targets Israel most wants to eliminate (related report: Who will succeed the leader of Hamas, will it be him? He used to be a physics teacher and was assassinated by Mossad on the streets of Jordan). In the past few decades, he has suffered multiple assassination attempts from the Israeli intelligence organization Mossad.

In 2023, Israel publicly announced that Sinwar was one of the planners of the attack on Israel on October 7, and regarded him as the "number one assassination target", vowing many times to hunt him down to the end. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu once declared that it was "only a matter of time" to catch Sinwar.

For a long time, in order to avoid assassination, Sinwar's whereabouts were erratic, and there was once news within Hamas that his whereabouts were unknown.

In one of his rare public appearances, Sinwar ended his speech by "inviting Israel to assassinate me" and declared that "I will walk home by myself after this." After the speech, he continued to stay on the street, shaking hands with people and taking selfies.

It is reported that Sinwar's younger brother was also a military commander of Hamas. He had previously escaped multiple assassination attempts by Israel but was declared dead by Hamas in 2014.

Regarding Sinwar's appointment as the leader of the Hamas Political Bureau, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in an interview: "Sinwar has only one destination, that is, to be killed like Mohammad Dave and other terrorists who participated in the action on October 7 last year."

The ceasefire negotiations between Palestine and Israel have been temporarily suspended due to the death of Haniyeh, who played a key role in mediating the negotiations. Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said in an interview that Sinwar would continue the ceasefire negotiations after taking office. In addition, he also blamed Israel and its ally the United States for the failure to reach a consensus on the ceasefire agreement.

Hamdan said Sinwar's election showed that Hamas's will had not been broken, and that Hamas "remains steadfast on the battlefield and in politics."

As for future negotiations, some analysts predict that the negotiation process may become complicated and lengthy. "Sinwar is Israel's number one assassination target, and now he has the final say on all decisions and negotiations."

Red Star News reporter Fan Xu, intern Chen Hanyu, CCTV News (editor Chen Pingli), etc.

Editor: Guo Yu, Editor: Li Binbin