Hamas tapped Gaza chief and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar as its new leader on Monday to succeed the terror group’s previous head, who was assassinated in Tehran.
Sinwar, who has managed to evade the Israeli military’s campaign for nearly 10 months, was officially named the new Politburo chief following the death of Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a bombing in Tehran last week.
It remains unclear when Sinwar will officially take over and just how in control he will be — he remains in hiding while leading Hamas’ forces in war-torn Gaza, with few clues as to where he might be.
Sinwar has been named as the chief architect of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead and some 250 others kidnapped.
The last known footage of Sinwar was taken on Oct. 10 as he ran through a Hamas tunnel with his family.
While several Hamas commanders and even Hamas head military chief, Mohammed Deif, have been killed by the Israeli military, there remains no hints as to where Sinwar is hiding out.
Experts believe he remains in Gaza, deep inside the 300-mile-long tunnel system, making his rise to power notable as many of Hamas’ previous political leaders have served in exile from the Palestinian enclave.
Colin Clarke, a counter-terrorism expert at the New York-based Soufan Group, previously told The Post that Sinwar has survived so far by staying radio-silent and using Israeli hostages and innocent Palestinians as human shields to protect him.
Clarke suggested Sinwar has lived as long as he has despite Israel’s hunt for him by staying out of the limelight, a technique that may no longer be viable if he’s expected to lead Hamas’ entire organization.
As the head of the Politburo, Sinwar will be in charge of coordinating among the terror group’s leadership not just in Gaza, but also the West Bank, the diaspora and those in Israeli prisons.
His rise to power also spells trouble for the already stalled cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, as Sinwar has repeatedly gotten in the way of compromises and urged the terror group to keep fighting.
Before being Hamas’ top official in Gaza, a young Sinwar was known as “The Butcher of Khan Younis” for his relentless and brutal slaughter of suspected informants for Israel within the terror group’s ranks.
Sinwar, who was born in a Khan Younis refugee camp, was eventually arrested in 1988 and convicted of killing two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
Despite the life sentence, Sinwar only spent 23 years in jail and was released in 2011 as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Hamas announced Sinwar’s rise to the top of its leadership following reports that Mohamed Ismail Darwish, the man leading Hamas’ Shura Council, would serve as its interim leader until the group can hold elections next year.
With Post wires
