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Tipping Point Quick Hits (08.08.24)

October 7 Mastermind is New Leader of Hamas

In what is being viewed as a direct warning to Israel, Hamas announced its new leader on Tuesday: the shadowy figure Yahya Sinwar, who has deep ties to Iran and is known as the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. He will replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran last week.

The Associate Press describes the impact of this appointment:

The selection of Sinwar, a secretive figure close to Iran who worked for years to build up Hamas’ military strength, was a defiant signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting after 10 months of destruction from Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

His selection is likely to provoke Israel, which has put him at the top of its kill list after the Oct. 7 attack, in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 as hostages.

His selection, according to this report, was a unanimous vote by the council that elects Hamas leadership. It signals that the on-the-ground leadership in Gaza will become more prominent, rather than the political approach of Haniyeh, who lived in exile in Qatar and had better connections to ceasefire negotiators.

Haniyeh was a politician. Sinwar is a butcher.