Hamas names Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar as its new top leader

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Hamas' Yahya Sinwar chairs a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City, April 13, 2022. / AP

TEL AVIV, Israel — Hamas says it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its local leader in Gaza, to take over as the Palestinian militant group's new top political leader worldwide.

Hamas is filling the top job after the assassination of its political leader Ismail Haniyeh last week in Iran, presumably by Israel.

Hamas’ 50-member council in Gaza, the West Bank and abroad usually selects its leaders in a secret ballot. But it is unclear if such a vote took place. Hamas said Sinwar was "chosen" on Tuesday.

The shadowy figure is widely seen as Hamas' most hard-line figure and believed to have helped mastermind the Oct. 7 attack on parts of Israel.

Sinwar has directed Hamas’ battlefield strategy over 10 months of war and is believed to be playing a lead role in talks for a cease-fire and hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel.

Sinwar is Israel's most wanted man — and he has remained in hiding and incommunicado. He leads a group that's designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and other countries.

Born on Oct. 29, 1962, according to Hamas, Sinwar helped found the group's internal security apparatus in the late 1980s. He earned a nickname among Palestinians: the "butcher of Khan Younis," where he grew up in the southern Gaza Strip.

Sinwar is one of Hamas' few remaining senior officials after the assassinations of Haniyeh, deputy political chief Salah Arouri in January and top military commander Mohammed Deif in July. Israel has confirmed killing Deif and is presumed to have carried out the other assassinations.