Hamas’ election of Yahya Sinwar as its leader strengthens the strategic ties between the movement and Iran and indicates a unified front between Tehran and its allies in the Axis of Resistance in the struggle against "Israel" and the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

When members of the Palestinian group gathered to select a replacement for martyr Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by "Israel" while in Tehran, Sinwar interrupted the discussions with a letter: the new leader must be someone close to Iran, according to informed Arab and Hamas officials.

"It clearly puts at the top of the group someone who is seen to be much closer to Iran," pointed out Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The WSJ considered that Sinwar's promotion by senior Hamas members signifies that the Palestinian movement supports his strategy of waging war against "Israel" alongside Iran’s allies.

The report noted that Hamas' news political leader Sinwar seeks to achieve a Palestinian state and "shares Iran’s goal of destroying the state of Israel to achieve it."

Meanwhile, Israeli officials see the move as a significant shift in the relationship between Hamas and Iran.

"The election of Yahya Sinwar as the leader of Hamas must send a clear message to the world that the Palestinian issue is now completely controlled by Iran and Hamas," Israeli occupation Foreign Minister Israel Katz claimed on Wednesday. 

According to the newspaper, Sinwar was one of the strongest advocates for repairing Hamas’ ties with Iran after the strains of the so-called "Arab Spring".

It mentioned that he first reached out to Iran while serving multiple life sentences in Israeli occupation prisons.

In 2021, after a ceasefire was reached to end the 11-day Operation Seif Al-Quds and confrontations with the Israeli occupation military, Sinwar said Hamas was thankful to the Iranians for providing money, weapons, and expertise.

"They [Iran] weren’t with us on the ground. But they were with us," he indicated. 

In a related context, Jackie Khoury, an Arab affairs analyst at the Israeli Army Radio, suggested that Hamas leadership is aware that "Israel" and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are not inclined toward a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal, adding that with Sinwar's election, the Palestinian movement has officially shifted the situation on the ground to the field level, going from diplomacy to the battlefield.

In light of his election as the head of Hamas' political bureau, this is what #YahyaSinwar told #AlMayadeen in a 2018 interview.

Sinwar highlighted the revolutionary sentiment that #Palestinians in Gaza have, emphasizing how no one can pressure them into anything, as they are… pic.twitter.com/HREgXJjsAi

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 7, 2024

Aside from public relations, Khoury argues, Sinwar has not received an upgrade in his status, adding that in practice, however, he remains the most powerful figure in Hamas.

Read more: Who is Yahya al-Sinwar, the artist behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?