Israel-Hamas War: With Israel continuing its strikes against Hamas leadership, the militant group has decided not to appoint a new chief until the next election due in March. According to an AFP report citing top Hamas sources, the terror group was moving towards appointing a Doha-based ruling committee to see its day-to-day operations. This comes days after Israel eliminated Yahya Sinwar in an airstrike in Gaza. Sinwar was made Hamas chief after Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a covert operation in the Iranian capital Tehran. According to the report, a five-member committee, established in August after the assassination of political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is set to assume leadership of the group.
The members of the committee are representatives from Khalil al-Hayya for Gaza, Zaher Jabarin for the West Bank, Khaled Meshaal for Palestinians abroad, the head of Hamas’s Shura Advisory Council Mohammed Darwish and the secretary of the Hamas political bureau.
As per Hamas sources, the elections would be held in March if ‘conditions permit’. Not appointing a new chief could be Hamas’ strategy to deprive Israel of a moral advantage. Sinwar was appointed Hamas chief almost two months ago but was killed by the IDF last week. The back-to-back elimination of two Hamas chiefs has handed a morale booster to the IDF. Sinwar was appointed as the Gaza chief of the group in 2017, eventually becoming the overall leader of Hamas following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in July.
Sinwar was believed to be the mastermind of the October 7 terror attack on Israel. Since then, Israel and Hamas have been locked in a conflict which has escalated further to regions like Iran and Lebanon.