Media: Hamas names top commander in Gaza after key leaders’ death

Hamas suffered a major setback last fall when Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the group's leader and mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 attacks.

However, the US-designated terrorist organisation now has another Sinwar in charge: Yahya’s younger brother, Mohammed, who is working to rebuild the militant group, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Israel’s 15-month military campaign has devastated Hamas’ stronghold in the Gaza Strip, destroying much of its infrastructure, killing thousands of its fighters and leaders, and cutting off the routes it could use to rearm. The well-trained and heavily armed forces that infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, 2023, are now severely diminished. However, the ongoing violence has also produced a new generation of recruits and left Gaza strewn with unexploded ordnance, which Hamas fighters can repurpose into improvised bombs. The group continues to use these resources to carry out attacks. In the past week, the Israeli military has reported the deaths of 10 soldiers in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza, and Hamas has fired around 20 rockets at Israel in the last two weeks.

The ongoing recruitment efforts and continued fighting under Mohammed Sinwar are presenting a new challenge for Israel. Despite heavy losses inflicted on Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli military has had to return to areas previously cleared of militants, engaging in new battles. This cycle underscores the difficulty of ending a war that has strained Israel's forces and continues to threaten the safety of hostages held in Gaza.

Mohammed Sinwar is playing a central role in Hamas' recovery efforts. After Israeli forces killed his brother in October, Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, initially opted for a collective leadership council instead of appointing a new leader. However, Hamas fighters in Gaza did not follow this decision and are now operating independently under Mohammed Sinwar’s leadership, according to Arab mediators involved in ceasefire negotiations with Israel. Mohammed Sinwar, believed to be around 50 years old, has long been considered close to his older brother Yahya, who was more than 10 years his senior.

Like Yahya, Mohammed joined Hamas at a young age and developed a strong connection with the head of Hamas’ armed wing, Mohammed Deif. Unlike his brother, who spent over two decades in an Israeli prison, Mohammed has not been incarcerated for long periods and remains less understood by Israel’s security services. He has operated mostly behind the scenes, earning the nickname “Shadow,” according to Arab officials. “We are working hard to find him,” said a senior Israeli official from the Southern Command, which oversees the Gaza conflict. Israeli officials have stated that Mohammed Sinwar was involved in the 2006 kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, which led to Yahya’s release in a prisoner swap five years later. 

With Yahya Sinwar, Deif, and Deif’s deputy all killed, Mohammed Sinwar is now the most senior Hamas commander in Gaza, alongside Izz al-Din Haddad, the military head in northern Gaza, according to political analysts who track the militants. Before the war, Israel estimated Hamas had up to 30,000 fighters organised into 24 battalions, resembling a state military structure. The Israeli military now claims to have dismantled that structure, killing approximately 17,000 fighters and detaining thousands more. Hamas, which both Israeli and Arab officials claim still controls significant areas of the Gaza Strip, has not disclosed the number of fighters it has lost. 

By Naila Huseynova