Who Could Lead Hamas After Yahya Sinwar's Killing As Israel Looks To End War?

Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, was killed in an Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Sinwar’s death has raised many questions linked to the future of war in Gaza with none being more pressing than who will replace him as Hamas leader as Israel looks to end the year-long war.

Amir Avivi, chairman of Bitchonistim (Security Experts), while speaking on the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, explained that the organization could continue functioning without him.

Hamas still has a functioning organizational hierarchy even after the death of Yahya Sinwar, Avivi noted.

“We have to admit that it’s still unclear whether Sinwar is alive or not, but it seems his brother is highly active and running things. So even if Sinwar has been, or will be, taken out, unless his brother and two or three other central figures are also eliminated, breaking Hamas’ hierarchical structure will be difficult,” Avivi was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post.

Sinwar’s Likely Successors

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a founder and senior member of Hamas, is largely being seen as the successor of Sinwar. He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in 2006 and was appointed as the group’s first foreign minister after Hamas’s electoral win that year, according to The Hill.

He escaped the attempts of assassination against him by the Israeli forces reportedly in 1992 and 2003. Reports also indicated that he has made no public appearance or statement since October 7.

Second on the list to replace Yahya Sinwar could be his brother Mohammed Sinwar. His appointment would likely mean a continuation of his brother’s approach to cease-fire talks.

A senior US official told CNN that if Mohammed were chosen “negotiations are screwed,” and a former official described him as being “cut from the same cloth” as his brother.

Another Hamas official who can likely step into Sinwar’s shoes is Mousa Abu Marzouk. He helped create a branch of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood that later formed Hamas, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations.

He remains a member of its top political bureau.

‘Decline Of Evil Rule Of Hamas’

With Israeli forces claiming that they ‘eliminated’ Sinwar during a strike in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “His elimination is an important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas.”

“I would like to say again, in the clearest way: Hamas will no longer rule Gaza,” Netanyahu said, calling this “the beginning of the day after Hamas” and an opportunity for the people of Gaza “to free yourself from its tyranny.”

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, said Sinwar, “who is responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers.”

“This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel and victory for the free world in everything against the evil axis of extreme Islam led by Iran,” said Katz in a statement, which the Israeli government said was shared with dozens of other foreign ministers around the world.