Hamas names man behind Oct 7 Israel attack as new leader

Choice of Yahya Sinwar reinforces group’s radical path pursued since surprise strike

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Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week, the group said on Aug 6, in a move that reinforces the radical path pursued since the Oct 7 attack on Israel.

Sinwar, the architect of the most devastating attack on Israel in decades, has been in hiding in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war.

"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 statement.

News of the appointment, which came as Israel braces itself for a likely attack from Iran following the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, was greeted with a salvo of rockets from Gaza from the bands of militants still fighting Israeli troops in the besieged enclave.

"The appointment means that Israel needs to face Sinwar over a solution to the Gaza war," said a regional diplomat familiar with talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which are aimed at bringing a halt to the fighting in Gaza and a return of 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still held in the enclave.