Yahya Sinwar

Yahya Sinwar (Yehiya Sinwar Arabic: يحيى السنوار‎) (born 1962) is the current Palestinian leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, having taken over from Ismail Haniyeh in February 2017.[1][2] He was one of the co-founders of the security apparatus of Hamas.[3] He is the second most powerful figure within Hamas.[4]

Yahya Sinwar
De facto ruler of the Gaza Strip
Disputed
Assumed office
13 February 2017
Preceded byIsmail Haniyeh

In September 2015, Sinwar was designated a terrorist by the United States government,[3] and Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades have also been designated terrorist organisations by the United States and other countries and organisations.

Early life

Sinwar was born Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar in 1962, in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis, where he spent his early years. After he graduated from high school at Khan Yunis Secondary School for Boys, he went on to the Islamic University of Gaza where he received a bachelor's degree in Arabic Studies.[5][6]

Career

Sinwar was first arrested in 1982 for subversive activities and he served several months in the Far'a prison where he met other Palestinian activists, including Salah Shehade, and dedicated himself to the Palestinian cause.[5] Arrested again in 1985,[2] upon his release he together with Rawhi Mushtaha co-founded the Munazzamat al Jihad w’al-Dawa (Majd) security organisation, which worked to, inter alia, identify Israeli spies in the Palestinian movement,[1] and which in 1987 became the "police" of Hamas.[5]

In 1988, he masterminded the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers, was arrested, convicted of murder, and sentenced in 1989 to four life sentences.[2][3] He tried to escape several times but was always caught.[6][7] Sinwar served 22 years of his sentence before being released in 2011 and repatriated to Gaza as part of the prisoner exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.[1]

In February 2017 Sinwar was elected Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, taking over from Ismail Haniyeh. Sinwar rejects any reconciliation with Israel.[1] He has called on militants to capture more Israeli soldiers.[3]

More recently he has silenced hard-line voices in Gaza overruling the use of tunnels that Muhammad Deif wanted to use to sneak fighters into Israel before they were shut down by new classified Israeli technology in 2017.[8]

On May 16, 2018, in an unexpected announcement on Al Jazeera, Sinwar stated that Hamas would pursue "peaceful, popular resistance" opening the possibility that Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by many countries, may play a role in negotiations with Israel.[8] A week earlier he had encouraged Gazans to breach the Israeli siege, saying “We would rather die as martyrs than die out of oppression and humiliation”, and adding, “We are ready to die, and tens of thousands will die with us.”[9]

Health

On December 1, 2020, Sinwar tested positive for COVID-19 and was reportedly following the advice of health authorities and taking precautionary measures. A spokesman for the group also said that he was in "good health and [...] pursuing his duties as usual."[10]

References
  1. Beaumont, Peter (13 February 2017). "Hamas elects hardliner Yahya Sinwar as its Gaza Strip chief". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017.
  2. Balousha, Hazam; Booth, William (13 February 2017). "Hamas names hard-liner as its new political leader in Gaza". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
  3. "Terrorist Designations of Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mushtaha, and Muhammed Deif". United States Department of State. 8 September 2015.
  4. "The Palestinians try to reconcile". The Economist. 5 October 2017.
  5. نبذة عن حياة الأسير يحيى السنوار مؤسس الجهاز الأمني لحركة المقاومة الإسلامية حماس [About the life of the prisoner Yahya Sinwar founder of the security apparatus of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas] (in Arabic). Palestinian Information Center. 15 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2016.
  6. "Yehya Ibrahim Sinwar". Ezzedeen AL-Qassam Brigades. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016.
  7. قائد حماس بالسجون يحيى السنوار... خطط للهرب اكثر من مرة وعوقب بالعزل [Imprisoned Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar ... planned to escape more than once and was punished with solitary]. Maan News Agency. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
  8. "The leader of Hamas in Gaza is the most influential man in Palestine". The Economist. 26 May 2018.
  9. Halbfinger, David M.; Abuheweila, Iyad (10 May 2018). "As Gaza Teeters on Precipice, a Hamas Leader Speaks Out". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  10. Almughrabi, Nidal (1 December 2020). Heller, Jeffrey; Ricahrdson, Alex (eds.). "Hamas Gaza chief tests positive for COVID-19, spokesman says". Reuters. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
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