CAIRO: Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, the group said on Tuesday. Analysts see the appointment as a move that reinforces the radical path pursued since the Oct 7 raid.

Sinwar has been in hiding in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the latest conflict.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of commander Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement, succeeding the martyr, commander Ismail Haniyeh. May Allah have mercy on him,” the movement said in a brief statement.

New leader spent half his adult life in Israeli prisons

News of the appointment was greeted with a salvo of rockets from Gaza by fighters still resisting Israeli troops in the besieged enclave.

Sinwar, who spent half his adult life in Israeli prisons, was the most powerful Hamas leader left alive following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh last week. The murder has left the region on the brink of a wider regional conflict after Iran vowed harsh retaliation.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination, but it has said it killed other senior leaders, including Hamas deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri and Mohammed Deif, the movement’s strategic planner.

Born in a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the 61-year-old Sinwar was elected as Hamas leader in Gaza in 2017 after gaining a reputation as a “ruthless enforcer” and an implacable enemy of Israel.

He was formerly head of the Al Majd security apparatus which tracked, killed and punished Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel’s secret service before he was jailed.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024