According to a statement by Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement, Yahya al-Sinwar will serve as its new political leader, succeeding martyred Ismail Haniyeh.
“The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement has announced the election of Yahya al-Sinwar as head of the movement’s political office to replace the murdered Ismail Haniyeh.”
In a statement, the Hamas Movement said: “After in-depth and extensive consultations and deliberations in our leadership institutions, brother leader Yahya Sinwar was chosen as head of the political bureau.”
“We express our confidence in our brother Abu Ibrahim as the leader of the movement at a sensitive stage and complex local, regional, and international circumstances,” The statement added
A leader of Hamas in Gaza, Al-Sinwar, was a mastermind player in Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
A report written by Reuters in December recalls a speech made by al-Sinwar back in 2022 uncannily foreshadowing the events of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in his choice of wording.
In a speech addressing the Zionist security establishment on December 14 last year, during a popular ceremony in Gaza celebrating the 35th anniversary of Hamas’ establishment, al-Sinwar specifically threatened the Zionists with an impending “flood”.
Deputy Chief of the movement’s Political Bureau, Khalil al-Hayya, said during a memorial held for the martyred leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday that Hamas will remain loyal to the Palestinian people, martyrs, and the Islamic Ummah, by “continuing on the path of struggle, jihad, and resistance,” until the liberation of Palestine is achieved.
The Hamas official praised martyr Haniyeh’s life-long work, saying that his martyrdom has “given new spirit, determination, and strength to [the region’s people] and their Resistance.”
“He was a great leader and a devoted servant, a true ascetic, for whom the doors of martyrdom and paradise open if Allah wills,” al-Hayya underlined.
Who is Yahya al-Sinwar, the artist behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?
Yahya Al-Sinwar, whose name translates to “the fisherman” or “the maker of fishing hooks” in Arabic, hails from the coastal city of Askalan, an area whose community was centered around fishing before being displaced by Zionist militias.
Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza to parents who were displaced during the Nakba of 1948, Yahya was actively involved in political activism from a young age. While an undergraduate at the Islamic University of Gaza, he led the Islamic Bloc and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Arabic Studies.
He was arrested at 19 for being involved in anti-Zionist revolutionary activity. He grew more committed to the Palestinian cause in his many months in prison and forged connections with other Palestinian revolutionaries.
Arrested again in 1985 he met Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder and leader of Hamas, which would be established a few years later. This connection would later pave the way for his ascension within Hamas.
After his release in 1985, he focused heavily on political organizing and transformed his activism into organized armed efforts, founding the Al-Majd organization, an armed group that would later become Hamas. Al-Majd was committed to eliminating perceived traitors in Gaza, with Al-Sinwar leading operations to identify and execute local collaborators and spies.
Al-Sinwar’s security work was a crucial part of a broader strategy to establish Gaza as a key center of resistance and a pivotal point in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
In 1988, at the age of 25, Al-Sinwar was arrested for the third time and sentenced to life in prison for thwarting Israeli espionage and subversive activities in Gaza.
In 2011, Al-Sinwar was released as part of a prisoner exchange involving 1,027 individuals between the Palestinian Resistance and the Zionist regime.
Today he oversees dozens of Zionist soldiers and settlers held captive in Gaza.
In 2018, al-Sinwar led the Great March of Return in an attempt to peacefully break the siege on Gaza and was met with brute Israeli force massacring peaceful protesters. Three years later, al-Sinwar led Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and successfully broke the siege.
Below is a detailed biography:
Brother Commander Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar “Abu Ibrahim”
Birth and Early Life:
Born on October 19, 1962, in the Khan Younis refugee camp.
His family was displaced from the city of Majdal Asqalan by zionists in 1948.
Marital Status:
After his release from Zionist prisons in the “Wafa al-Ahrar” prisoner exchange deal in 2011, he got married in 2012. He has three children, two sons and a daughter (Ibrahim, Abdullah, and Reda).
Education:
– He studied in Khan Younis schools and completed his secondary education at Khan Younis Secondary School for Boys.
– He then enrolled at the Islamic University of Gaza and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Arabic Language.
Student Activities:
– He worked in the Student Council of the Islamic University for five years, serving as the Secretary of the Artistic Committee, then the Sports Committee, Vice President, President of the Council, and then Vice President again from 1982 to 1987.
– He was prominent in general student debates between different blocs and was one of the most notable theorists of the Islamic Bloc.
– He led the Islamic Bloc.
– He founded the (Al-A’idoun for Islamic Art) group with the blessing of the founding Sheikh Imam Ahmed Yassin.
Militant and Jihadist Activities:
– He participated in the founding of the first security apparatus for the movement (Security of the Call) under the leadership of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1983.
– In 1986, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin tasked him and others with forming the Jihad and Da’wa Organization (Majd), where he became one of its most prominent leaders.
– He directed and led many popular confrontations with the zionist enemy from 1982 to 1988.
Arrests:
– He was arrested in 1982 and spent six months in Fara’a prison due to his resistance activities.
– In 1988, he was arrested again and sentenced to four life sentences, serving 23 consecutive years in enemy prisons, nearly four of which were spent in solitary confinement.
Activities in Prison:
– He assumed leadership of the High Command of Hamas prisoners in the prisons several times.
– He, along with his comrades, led a series of hunger strikes, with significant instances in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004.
– He is proficient in Hebrew and has many political and security-related writings and translations.
– He translated the books “Shabak Between the Remains” and “‘Israeli’.Parties” in 1992.
– He authored the books “Hamas: Experience and Mistakes” and “Al-Majd,” which documents the work of the “Shin Bet.”
– Sinwar wrote numerous security-related literature that laid the foundation for Hamas’s security experience.
– He also authored a literary novel titled “Thorns and Carnations,” which narrates the Palestinian struggle experience from 1967 until the Intifada.
– He was released in 2011 as part of the “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal between the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas and the zionist enemy.
– He had a significant impact on the terms and conditions of the deal, leading the zionist enemy to isolate him before the deal was completed.
– He was elected as a member of the political bureau of Hamas in Gaza and took responsibility for the security file in 2012. He was then elected as a member of the general political bureau and took responsibility for the military file in 2013.
– In September 2015, the United States included him on its blacklist of “international terrorists.”
– In 2015, Hamas assigned him the responsibility of the file concerning zionist prisoners held by the Al-Qassam Brigades.
– He was elected head of the political bureau of Hamas in Gaza in February 2017 and re-elected for a second term in 2021.
– His home was bombed and destroyed in 1989, again during the 2014 aggression, a third time during the 2021 aggression, and a fourth time during this [ongoing] genocidal war on Gaza in December 2023.
– On August 6, 2024, he was elected head of the political bureau of Hamas, succeeding the nation’s martyr, Commander Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
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The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine salutes Hamas after electing its political bureau head
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine extended its greetings to the brothers in Hamas, following the announcement of Hamas selecting the fighter brother Yahya Sinwar “Abu Ibrahim” as the head of its political bureau.
The Front affirmed its confidence in the ability of the brothers in Hamas to overcome the great ordeal represented by the martyrdom of brother Ismail Haniyeh, and to continue his path and the path of all the martyred leaders.
The leadership of the Front wished brother Yahya Sinwar and his fellow leaders in Hamas success in bearing this great responsibility as the successor to the martyred Ismail Haniyeh, and to continue leading the movement in a manner that serves the defense of our people and their rights in this critical phase.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Central Media Department
August 6, 2024
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Brother and fighter Yahya Al-Sinwar
Head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
Greetings of loyalty to the homeland and the martyrs,
We extend to you the sincerest brotherly and comradely revolutionary congratulations on your election as the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), succeeding the great national leader, the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, who sanctified his life of struggle with his precious blood on the battlefield in service of his homeland and the Palestinian people.
Dear brother Abu Ibrahim,
Your election as the leader of Hamas is a new affirmation of the movement’s unity, cohesion, and resilience, as well as its ability to overcome the ordeal caused by the martyrdom of the great leader Abu Al-Abd. It also confirms the steadfastness of its national choice to continue its path of resistance in defense of our people, our land, and our legitimate national rights without compromise. Your election as the leader of the movement is also a testament to the loyalty to the blood of our people, leaders, and fighters, especially those who fell victim to the genocide in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Dear brother Abu Ibrahim,
Your election as the leader of Hamas, while you are at the heart of the battlefield, fighting the occupation army, inflicting heavy losses upon them, leading the valiant resistance with its united arms on the ground, represents a blatant challenge to the savage state of “israel” and a determination to continue the resistance until the enemy carries away its dead and wounded and departs humiliated from the homeland, covered in shame and disgrace.
Finally, dear brother, we renew our congratulations to you, the leadership of the movement, all its fighters, and our people on this great responsibility placed upon your shoulders, side by side with all the resistance factions.
And we will surely be victorious.
Your brother, Fahd Suleiman
Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
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Choosing Sinwar [as head of the political bureau] is a message of strength and confirmation that the occupation’s threats do not scare anyone.
The threats of “israeli” army spokesperson Avichay Adraee do not scare anyone.
Communication between Sinwar and the Hamas negotiation delegation has been ongoing since the first day of the battle.
Sinwar was unanimously chosen as the head of the movement, sending a message of unity.
Hamas has not and will not be an obstacle to any effort to implement national agreements.
Hamas has not and will not be an obstacle to Palestinian reconciliation.
Choosing Sinwar as the head of the movement is a message to the occupation that its threats do not scare resistance leaders and will not affect their decisions.
Choosing Sinwar as the head of the movement sends a message of strength, unity, and challenge.
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
We congratulate our brothers in Hamas for selecting commander Yahya Sinwar as the head of its political bureau. The success of our brothers in Hamas in conducting internal consultations and filling the vacancy in the political bureau leadership after the assassination of the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh, may Allah have mercy on him, with such speed, despite all the war against them, is a strong message to the zionst enemy that Hamas remains strong and cohesive, and that the enemy has not affected its structure despite the war of extermination.
We wish commander Yahya Sinwar and our brothers in Hamas all the success in moving forward towards achieving the goals of the Palestinian people in liberation, return, and the expulsion of the occupation.
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Tuesday, 2 Safar 1446 Hijri, August 6, 2024
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
We congratulate our brothers in the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on the selection of the brother leader Yahya Al-Sinwar as the head of its political bureau, succeeding the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh, who ascended after a cowardly zionist assassination.
The speed and success of the process in selecting the leader of Hamas is a message of strength and defiance to the zionist enemy, which attempted to create a vacuum and internal confusion. However, the movement has demonstrated its cohesion and ability to overcome hardships, particularly the great loss of the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh, during these critical times faced by our entire Palestinian people and the genocide being perpetrated by the zionist enemy against the steadfast Gaza Strip.
As we congratulate our brothers in Hamas, we pray to Allah to guide brother Yahya Al-Sinwar and the brothers in Hamas in continuing their jihadist path until achieving the goals and aspirations of our people in liberation, ending the occupation, reclaiming all rights, and recovering all land.
Palestinian Mujahideen Movement
Media Office
Tuesday, 2 Safar 1446 AH corresponding to August 6, 2024
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We congratulate our Palestinian people and our brothers in the leadership of the Hamas movement on their selection of the mujahid, the leader Yahya Sinwar as the successor to the martyr, the mujahid, leader Ismail Haniyeh. This choice reinforces the movement’s approach and honors the mujahid Sinwar, who led the historic Al-Aqsa Flood battle with unparalleled capability and field creativity.
We, in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, consider Hamas’s decision to choose mujahid Sinwar as the head of its political bureau a message of strength that reflects the movement’s cohesion, unity of stance, and the resilience of its institutions. It is a scorching message to the zionist enemy, with connotations affirming that the choice of resistance is the most eloquent response to the zionist enemy’s barbarism, Nazism, and genocidal war against our people.
Glory to the resistance, and together on the path to liberate the land and humanity.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
6/8/2024