What do we know about Yahya Sinwar, who Hamas chose as the new head of its political bureau?

Hamas announced on Tuesday that it has chosen its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, as the new head of the movement’s political bureau, succeeding the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel during his visit to Tehran. So what do we know about Sinwar, who is said to be the “mastermind behind Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa”?

Sinwar was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1962, and grew up in difficult circumstances, suffering from poverty and cruelty. His childhood was affected by the attacks that the residents of the camps were subjected to by the Israeli occupation.

Israel considers him the "Defense Minister of Hamas" because he is the link between the political and military wings of the movement, and describes him as "stubborn and the head of the hawkish wing in Hamas." He is also known as the mastermind behind Operation "Noah's Flood", which inflicted enormous human and military losses on the Israeli occupation, and shook the stereotypical image of the capabilities of its intelligence and security services.

Who is Yahya Sinwar?

Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar, or Yahya Sinwar, a prominent leader in the Hamas movement, hails from the historic city of Majdal Ashkelon, located northeast of the Gaza Strip, which fell to the Israeli occupation in 1948 and changed its name to “Ashkelon.”

Sinwar was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1962, and grew up in difficult circumstances, suffering from poverty and cruelty. His childhood was affected by the attacks that the residents of the camps were subjected to by the Israeli occupation. Sinwar studied at the Islamic University of Gaza and obtained a bachelor's degree in Arabic language.

During his university years, he headed the Islamic Bloc, the student branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. This period was pivotal in his life and helped him prepare for the leadership roles he later assumed in Hamas. Although he was not one of the movement’s early founders, he became part of its leadership and helped set the direction and foundations for the Islamic Resistance over many years.

Yahya Sinwar's political activity

Yahya Sinwar's political activities began with him being one of the pioneers of the Palestinian leadership in various forms of resistance against the occupation since the early eighties. Yahya Sinwar believed that defeating the occupation required eliminating all its tools, and at the forefront of these tools was the poisoned dagger of agents that infiltrated the Palestinian fabric.

Therefore, Yahya Sinwar at that time suggested to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin some ideas that would enhance the security aspect of the resistance, most notably the establishment of the security and advocacy apparatus known as “Majd.” Sinwar led a team of security cadres and tracked down a number of agents who worked for the Israeli occupation.

Over time, Majd became the nucleus of Hamas's internal security system. In addition to interrogating Israeli agents, Majd's role also included tracking Israeli intelligence officers and security services.

Arrest of Sinwar

Yahya Sinwar was subjected to repeated arrests during his internal activities. In 1982, he was arrested for the first time and released after several days, then he was arrested again in the same year and sentenced to 6 months in prison due to his resistance activities.

In 1985, he was arrested again for 8 months on charges of establishing Hamas's special security apparatus known as "Majd", which was resisting the occupation in the Gaza Strip and combating its local collaborators. He was arrested for the third time in 1988 and sentenced to four life sentences, on charges of establishing the "Majd" security apparatus and participating in establishing the first military apparatus of Hamas.

Sinwar spent 23 consecutive years in the occupation prisons, including four years in solitary confinement. During his detention, he assumed the leadership of the supreme leadership of Hamas prisoners in prisons and participated in a series of hunger strikes, including strikes in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Liberation of Sinwar

Yahya Sinwar was released in 2011 as part of the Wafa al-Ahrar deal, in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

Shalit was captured on June 25, 2006, by fighters from Hamas's Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees' al-Nasser Salah ad-Din Brigades, and the Army of Islam, in an advanced military operation known as "The Vanishing Illusion." This operation is considered one of the most complex operations carried out by Palestinian factions since the beginning of the second Al-Aqsa Intifada.

The "Wafa al-Ahrar" deal took place after more than 5 years of Shalit's captivity in a secret location in the Gaza Strip, where Israel, with all its intelligence capabilities and agents, failed to reach him. The military operation it launched in late 2008 and early 2009 also failed to rescue him from captivity.

Post-prison

After Yahya Sinwar was released from prison, he participated in the Hamas internal elections in 2012 and won membership in the movement’s political bureau.

In February 2017, Yahya Sinwar was elected head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to a 2017 article in The Guardian, Sinwar’s rise to this position was an important step in redefining the movement’s policy.

Yahya Sinwar was under pressure from the United States, as he was designated, along with two other Hamas leaders (Mohammed Deif and Rawhi Mushtaha), as an international terrorist. Israel also placed Yahya Sinwar on the list of those wanted for assassination in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Sinwar's house was bombed and destroyed twice; once in 1989 and again during the aggression on the Gaza Strip in 2014.

Yahya Sinwar's writings

Yahya Sinwar is known for his mastery of the Hebrew language, and has many publications and translations in the political and security fields. Among his most prominent publications are:

- The book “Glory” was published during his detention from inside the occupation prisons. It is a book that monitors the work of the “Shabak” apparatus.

- Translation of the book “Israeli Parties in 1992”, which deals with the political parties in Israel during that period.

- The book "Hamas: Trial and Error", which deals with the experience of the Hamas movement and its development over time.

- A literary novel entitled “Carnation Thorns”, which tells the story of the Palestinian struggle from 1967 until the Al-Aqsa Intifada.