Hamas picks hard-liner as Gaza leader
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas has named a shadowy militant commander as its new leader in the Gaza Strip, an official media outlet confirmed Monday, placing one of the Islamic militant group’s most hardline figures in charge of its core power base.
The appointment of Yehiya Sinwar, who was freed by Israel in a 2011 prisoner swap after two decades behind bars, solidifies the takeover of Gaza operations by the armed wing of the group from civilian leaders. The military wing, which controls thousands of fighters and a vast arsenal of rockets, has battled Israel in three wars since Hamas seized Gaza a decade ago.
The militant wing tends to take more hard-line positions toward Israel, while the politicians, who are tasked with improving the difficult living conditions in Gaza, tend to be more pragmatic.
Sinwar’s selection was reported by Hamas’ Al-Resala news site. A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing the group’s secretive election process, also confirmed the appointment.
Sinwar, who is in his mid-50s, comes from the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis and was a founder of Hamas’ military wing in the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Sinwar was sentenced to four life terms by Israel in 1988 for a series of offenses, including his role as mastermind of the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers. During his final years in prison, he was the leader of the hundreds of Hamas prisoners held by Israel.
In 2011, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to release Sinwar, along with about 1,000 other prisoners, in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier who had been captured by Hamas five years earlier in a cross-border raid.
Kobi Michael, a former head of the Palestinian Desk at Israel’s Ministry for Strategic Affairs, said Sinwar represents “one of the most radical and extreme lines of Hamas.”