Who is Yahya Sinwar, the Political Leader of Hamas?

On August 7, the extremist group Hamas announced that Yahya Sinwar had been elected as the head of its political bureau. Sinwar, who previously commanded Hamas in the Gaza Strip, succeeded Ismail Haniyeh in the political leadership of the group, which is designated as 'terrorist' by the U.S. and Europe. Ismail Haniyeh, who had traveled to Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was killed in his residence in northern Tehran on August 1. Israel has repeatedly promised to target and eliminate Yahya Sinwar, holding him responsible for the destruction of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Sinwar remains hidden in Gaza and in tunnels constructed by Hamas. Daniel Hagari, a senior Israeli military spokesman, claimed that Sinwar 'has proven to the world that Hamas is worse than ISIS' following the October 7 attack. On that date, Hamas attacked Israeli cities and settlements, killing nearly 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, and taking around 250 hostages. In response, the Israeli army launched a war in Gaza aimed at eliminating Hamas, resulting in over 42,000 deaths, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Yahya Sinwar turned 61 on October 19. He was born in 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza and spent 24 years of his life, most of his youth, in Israeli prisons. Sinwar's family originally hails from Ashkelon, which Israelis refer to as Ashkelon. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Sinwar family was forced to leave their city and move to the Khan Younis camp. Sinwar grew up in Khan Younis, an area occupied by Israel in 1967. The American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that Sinwar played a role in establishing Hamas's internal security unit to pursue those labeled as 'saboteurs' and 'infiltrators.' Sinwar studied at schools in the Khan Younis camp and later attended the Islamic University of Gaza, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic language. In 1982, he was arrested by Israeli security forces for 'participating in sabotage activities' and spent four months in detention. During his student years, Sinwar was an activist against Israel and was close to Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas. According to Israeli officials, when Hamas transformed from a political Islamist group to an armed group in the late 1980s, Sinwar played a pivotal role in establishing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the group. Israeli security forces arrested Yahya Sinwar in 1998, sentencing him to four life terms for his involvement in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers. In prison, Sinwar became one of the leaders of Hamas's imprisoned members. He spent long hours talking with Israelis and prison guards, which helped him understand their culture. He also became addicted to watching Israeli television channels and learned Hebrew well. Former Israeli prison officials told the Wall Street Journal that Sinwar developed a brain illness while in prison, and Israeli doctors saved his life through surgery. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas for the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas in 2006, marked a turning point in Yahya Sinwar's life. According to The Economist, at that time, Israel accepted Sinwar as a negotiator for Hamas and allowed him to communicate with the group's leaders who sought to exchange over a thousand Palestinian prisoners for Shalit. Israel opposed the release of some individuals that Hamas requested, but Sinwar's name was not among them. Thus, he was released in 2011 and became one of the commanders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Utilizing his knowledge of Israel, Israeli culture, and the prison system gained during his incarceration, Sinwar became one of the most influential figures in Hamas among the political leaders and military commanders of the extremist group. In 2017, Yahya Sinwar was elected as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh, who took over the political bureau that year. According to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, Israeli security officials regarded Sinwar as one of the most radical members of Hamas and a link between the group's political leaders and its military wing. Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, read a statement announcing the group's operations against Israeli cities and settlements, naming it 'Operation Storm of Al-Aqsa.' Michael Milstein, a former officer of the Israeli military intelligence, believes that while Deif executed the October 7 attack, the mastermind behind it was Yahya Sinwar. Akram Attallah, a Palestinian journalist residing in Gaza who has interviewed Sinwar several times, stated that the October 7 attack shows that Hamas is now employing harsher methods and is trying to gain more leverage in any potential future negotiations with Israel. Sinwar recounted a phone call with Qassem Soleimani, stating, 'All resources are at Hamas's disposal.' In 2017, an audio file of Yahya Sinwar was released in which he claimed that Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, told him in a phone conversation that 'all resources for the defense of Al-Quds are at Hamas's disposal.' This audio file, which was Sinwar's account of his phone conversation with Soleimani, was published by the Lebanese network Al-Mayadeen, aligned with the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah, on December 25, 2017. Sinwar stated that Soleimani told him that 'the IRGC and the Quds Force are present alongside the Palestinian people in defense of Al-Quds.' Sinwar also added that this group and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad are in contact with Qassem Soleimani. However, he did not mention the nature of any potential operational collaborations.