Weary of war After Hamas named Yahya Sinwar as its new supremo on Wednesday, Gazans expressed concern that his previous role as the movement’s military commander may impede efforts to achieve the much-desired truce.
“We don’t know how Hamas is thinking or what led them to choose Yahya Sinwar as their chief, especially when his whereabouts are unknown”, 29-year-old Mohammad al-Sharif told AFP in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah.
“He is a fighter. How will negotiations take place?”, asked the displaced man originally from Gaza City, adding: “We want nothing but the end of the war”.
Late on Tuesday, Hamas declared that it had replaced Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31, with Sinwar, 61, the man Israel claims planned the October 7 attack that ignited the Gaza war.
Since the attack on Israel, Sinwar has not been seen. According to numerous accounts, he is allegedly working out of one of Gaza’s multiple underground tunnels.
The 35-year-old Ibrahim Abu Daqa mirrored Sharif’s dissatisfaction with Sinwar’s selection to replace Haniyeh, who was seen by some as a pragmatic.
“In my opinion, appointing Yahya Sinwar as the head of Hamas was inappropriate at this critical stage”, he told AFP.
Also displaced in Deir el-Balah, and originally from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Abu Daqa said that the decision “may lead to negative results on multiple levels, including halting negotiations or failing to make progress in them, especially since Israel is seeking him for assassination”.
“The occupation killed the negotiator Ismail Haniyeh. What will happen with the fighter Yahya Sinwar?” he asked.
A senior Hamas official told AFP that the selection of Sinwar sent a message that the militant group “continues its path of resistance”.
Israel Katz, the foreign minister of Israel, has previously demanded that Sinwar be killed.
Bashir Qarqaz expressed concerns that his nomination would be a barrier to peace because of Israel’s will to murder Sinwar.
“The war will not end in the near future because Israel rejects Sinwar,” he stated, adding that “they want a political figure to concede to them, and Sinwar is a stubborn man who may not concede” .
Hani al-Qano had greater optimism. He emphasized that Sinwar had lived in Gaza during the battle and was therefore more acquainted with the day-to-day realities of the war than Haniyeh, who was a resident of Qatari self-exile.
“He may have a positive impact on the negotiations and may be a challenge to Israel, given that Sinwar is living inside the Gaza Strip among the people under siege”, he said.
“He is different from Haniyeh, who lived abroad.”
