Back يحيى السنوار Arabic Яхия Синуар Bulgarian ইয়াহিয়া সিনওয়ার Bengali/Bangla Yahya Sinwar Catalan یەحیا سینوار CKB Jahjá Sinvár Czech Yahya Sinwar Danish Yahya Sinwar German Γιαχία Σινουάρ Greek Yahya Sinwar Esperanto
Yahya Sinwar | |
|---|---|
يحيى السنوار | |
 Sinwar in 2011 | |
| Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau | |
| Assumed office 6 August 2024 | |
| Deputy | Khalil al-Hayya |
| Preceded by | Ismail Haniyeh |
| Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip[1] | |
| Assumed office 13 February 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Ismail Haniyeh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar 29 October 1962 Khan Younis, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Political party | Hamas |
| Relatives | Mohammed Sinwar (brother) |
| Residence(s) | Khan Younis, Khan Younis Governorate, Gaza Strip, State of Palestine[2] |
| Education | Islamic University of Gaza (BA) |
| Nickname(s) | The Butcher of Khan Younis The Face of Evil[3] |
| Palestinian nationalism Factions and Leaders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Map: Birthplaces and family origins. | ||
| ||
 Hamas members |
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| p. parents from; b. born in; d. death. |
Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar (Arabic: يحيى ابراهيم حسن السنوار, romanized: Yaḥyá Ibrāhīm Ḥasan al-Sinwār; born 29 October 1962), better known as Yahya Sinwar,[note 1][4] is a Palestinian politician who has been the chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau since August 2024[5] and the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip since February 2017, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh.[6][7]
Sinwar was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Egyptian-ruled Gaza in 1962 to a family who had been expelled or fled from Ashkelon during the 1948 Palestine War.[8] He finished his studies at the Islamic University of Gaza where he received a bachelor's degree in Arabic Studies.[9] For orchestrating the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians he considered to be collaborators in 1989, Sinwar was sentenced to four life sentences by Israel, of which he served 22 years until his release among 1,026 others in a 2011 prisoner exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.[6] Sinwar was one of the co-founders of the security apparatus of Hamas.[10][11][12][13]
In 2017, Sinwar was elected the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and claimed to pursue "peaceful, popular resistance" to the Israeli occupation the following year.[14] He was re-elected as the leader of Hamas in 2021, and was subject to an assassination attempt by Israel that year. Sinwar is regarded as the mastermind behind the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023,[15][16][17][18] and has strong connections with Iran.[19][20][21]
In September 2015, Sinwar was designated a terrorist by the United States government.[10] Hamas and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades have been designated terrorist organisations by the United States, the European Union, and other countries. In May 2024, Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced his intention to apply for an arrest warrant for Sinwar for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as part of the ICC investigation in Palestine.[22]
- ^ "Israeli occupation's threats against Hamas officials reflect political impasse". Hamas. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ Sabbagh, Dan (26 November 2023). "IDF messaging suggests Gaza truce unlikely to last much beyond Tuesday". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ "Who are the key leaders of Hamas – inside Gaza and beyond?". Sky News. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Israel air strikes kill 42 Palestinians, rockets fired from Gaza". Reuters. 15 May 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Hamas names Yahya Sinwar as new leader after Ismail Haniyeh's killing". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Yahya Sinwar | Hamas Leader, Biography, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 28 January 2024. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Who is the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar?". BBC News. 21 November 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Terrorist Designations of Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mushtaha, and Muhammed Deif". United States Department of State. 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ "The Palestinians try to reconcile". The Economist. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ Kottasová, Ivana; Shortell, David (7 December 2023). "Who is Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader Israel has called a 'dead man walking'". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ Morris, Loveday; Balousha, Hazem (11 December 2023). "Who is Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar: From enforcer to Oct. 7 mastermind". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
The Economistwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Vasilyeva, Nataliya (20 November 2023). "Mastermind behind Hamas attacks personally handling hostage negotiations". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kingsley, Patrick; Barnes, Julian E.; Rasgon, Adam (12 May 2024). "Yahya Sinwar Helped Start the War in Gaza. Now He's Key to Its Endgame". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Said, Summer; Jones, Rory (7 August 2024). "Sinwar Power Grab Cements Hamas-Iran Ties". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Hamas's pick of Yahya Sinwar as leader makes a ceasefire less likely". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:7was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kottasová, Ivana (20 May 2024). "EXCLUSIVE: ICC seeks arrest warrants against Sinwar and Netanyahu for war crimes over October 7 attack and Gaza war". CNN. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
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