Hamas announces Yahya Sinwar new politburo chief
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The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Sinwar, a former prisoner for 23 years, was a mastermind player in the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
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Yahya Sinwar, Palestinian leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and current leader of the Resistance movement places his hand over his heart on stage after greeting supporters at a rally of supporters days after the battle of Seif al-Quds, Monday, May 24, 2021, on Gaza City, the Gaza Strip (AP)
According to a statement by Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement, Yahya Sinwar will serve as its new political leader, succeeding martyred Ismail Haniyeh.
"The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement has announced the election of Yahya al-Sinwar as head of the movement's political office to replace the murdered Ismail Haniyeh."
In a statement, the Hamas Movement said, "After in-depth and extensive consultations and deliberations in our leadership institutions, brother leader Yahya Sinwar was chosen as head of the political bureau."
"We express our confidence in our brother Abu Ibrahim as the leader of the movement at a sensitive stage and complex local, regional, and international circumstances," the statement added
Read More: Who is Yahya Sinwar, the artist behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?
A leader of Hamas in Gaza, Sinwar was a mastermind player in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
A report written by Reuters in December recalls a speech made by Sinwar back in 2022 uncannily foreshadowing the events of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in his choice of wording.
In a speech addressing the Israeli security establishment on December 14 last year, during a popular ceremony in Gaza celebrating the 35th anniversary of Hamas' establishment, Sinwar specifically threatened the Israelis with an impending "flood".
Deputy Chief of the movement's Political Bureau, Khalil al-Hayya, said during a memorial held for the martyred leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday that Hamas will remain loyal to the Palestinian people, martyrs, and the Islamic Ummah, by "continuing on the path of struggle, jihad, and resistance," until the liberation of Palestine is achieved.
The Hamas official praised martyr Haniyeh's life-long work, saying that his martyrdom has "given new spirit, determination, and strength to [the region's people] and their Resistance."
"He was a great leader and a devoted servant, a true ascetic, for whom the doors of martyrdom and paradise open if Allah wills," al-Hayya underlined.
Who is Yahya Sinwar, the artist behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?
Yahya Sinwar, whose name translates to "the fisherman" or "the maker of fishing hooks" in Arabic, hails from the coastal city of Askalan, an area whose community was centered around fishing before being displaced by Zionist militias.
Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza to parents who were displaced during the Nakba of 1948, Yahya was actively involved in political activism from a young age. While an undergraduate at the Islamic University of Gaza, he led the Islamic Bloc and earned a Bachelor's degree in Arabic Studies.
He was arrested at 19 for being involved in anti-Zionist revolutionary activity. He grew more committed to the Palestinian cause in his many months in prison and forged connections with other Palestinian revolutionaries.
Arrested again in 1985 he met Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder and leader of Hamas, which would be established a few years later. This connection would later pave the way for his ascension within Hamas.
After his release in 1985, he focused heavily on political organizing and transformed his activism into organized armed efforts, founding the Al-Majd organization, an armed group that would later become Hamas. Al-Majd was committed to eliminating perceived traitors in Gaza, with Sinwar leading operations to identify and execute local collaborators and spies.
Sinwar's security work was a crucial part of a broader strategy to establish Gaza as a key center of resistance and a pivotal point in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
In 1988, at the age of 25, Sinwar was arrested for the third time and sentenced to life in prison for thwarting Israeli espionage and subversive activities in Gaza.
In 2011, Sinwar was released as part of a prisoner exchange involving 1,027 individuals between the Palestinian Resistance and "Israel"
Today he oversees dozens of Israeli soldiers and settlers held captive in Gaza.
In 2018, Sinwar led the Great March of Return in an attempt to peacefully break the siege on Gaza and was met with brute Israeli force massacring peaceful protesters. Three years later, Sinwar led Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and successfully broke the siege.
