Born in a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Sinwar, 61, was elected as Hamas’ leader in Gaza in 2017 after gaining a reputation as a ruthless enforcer among Palestinians and an implacable enemy of Israel.
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Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, blamed Sinwar for the October 7 attack and said Israel would continue to pursue him.
“There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the Oct 7th terrorists,” he told Al-Arabiya television, according to a statement released by the military. “That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him.”
In a sign that the movement had united around the choice of Sinwar, Khaled Meshaal, a former leader who had been seen as a potential successor to Haniyeh, was said by senior sources in the movement to have backed Sinwar “in loyalty to Gaza and its people, who are waging the battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa”.
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