Hamas will keep its new leader’s identity a secret in order to avoid another assassination following the death of October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar.
An official from within the terror group told the BBC that the movement intends to elect its new head in March 2025 but until then it will be run by a five-member committee.
The committee, which will dictate in place of a sole leader, will be made up of Khalil al-Hayya, Khaled Meshaal, Zaher Jabarin, Muhammad Darwish, head of the Shura Council, and a fifth individual whose identity remains undisclosed.
The unnamed official told the broadcaster that Hamas had been left alarmed by the way Sinwar, 61, was killed last week as they had assumed he was in a more secure location at the time of his assassination.
He also defiantly added that the movement has the ability and personnel to ensure their safety, but refrained from providing any more specific details.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was assassinated last week (pictured in 2022)
Sinwar can be seen looking directly at the drone, peaking only through the small gap in the wrapping encasing his face, with his right hand wounded by bullets
The committee, which will dictate in place of a sole leader, will be made up of Khalil al-Hayya (pictured), Khaled Meshaal, Zaher Jabarin, Muhammad Darwish, head of the Shura Council, and a fifth individual whose identity remains undisclosed
The official revealed that the Iranian foreign minister had met Khalil al-Hayya on Friday in Ankara and offered his condolences for the martyrdom of Sinwar.
Sinwar was eliminated on Wednesday after being hunted by intelligence services and the Israeli Defence Forces for over a year.
Israeli officials have said the Hamas head – who has long been dubbed the Butcher of Khan Younis – was killed after he emerged from the underground tunnel network where he had been hiding.
A unit from the IDF’s 828th Bislamach Brigade was patrolling Tal al-Sultan, an area of Rafah, on Wednesday morning, when it came across a group of three Hamas fighters in the street and engaged them in a firefight.
The terrorists were ‘on the run’ moving from house to house, the IDF said, and became split up.
One of them, since identified as Sinwar, ‘ran alone into one of the buildings’. He went up to the second floor, and troops responded by firing a tank shell in his direction.
The unit, made up of trainee infantry commanders and reservists, then began to sweep the area, according to Israeli media.
Two grenades were thrown at them, one of which exploded while the other failed to go off, Ynet reported.
The troops decided it was too dangerous to proceed and pulled back, sending in a mini drone to trace the fleeing fighter instead.
Dramatic footage released by the IDF shows the bloodied Sinwar, his face concealed by a scarf, throwing a stick in a final attempt to defend himself against the drone just seconds before he was assassinated.
Two 120mm tank shells slammed into the building, as well as a surface-to-surface Matador missile, according to Israeli reports, with shrapnel scything across the upper floors and killing Sinwar.
IDF soldiers carry Sinwar’s body out of the wrecked building on a stretcher
Israel accuses Sinwar (pictured) of masterminding the unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war
Unaware they had taken out Israel’s prime target, the soldiers did not return to the site until Thursday morning, when soldiers from the 450th Infantry Battalion were sent in to get a closer look.
As they inspected the dead, they realised one bore a striking resemblance to the Hamas leader.
Graphic images emerged of his corpse lying on the rubble surrounded by Israeli soldiers, while close ups showed a catastrophic head wound and multiple injuries.
Confirmation of his death took several hours, with multiple tests carried out, and his identity eventually confirmed with dental records and fingerprints.
Four hours after it confirmed it was investigating whether the Hamas leader had been killed, the military issued a simple message on social media: ‘Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar.’
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, confirmed the Hamas leader’s death in a televised statement on Thursday night.
He said: ‘Sinwar was responsible for the most brutal attack against Israel in our history when terrorists from Gaza invaded Israel, massacred Israelis in their homes, raped our women, burned entire families alive and took over 250 men, women and children, babies, hostage to Gaza.
Sinwar became the Iran-backed Palestinian group’s new leader after the killing of its former political chief Ismail Haniyeh (left) in July
‘For the past year, Sinwar tried to escape justice. He failed. We said we would find him and bring him to justice, and we did.
‘It was Yahya Sinwar who decided to wage war with Israel while hiding behind civilians in Gaza.’
He added that 101 hostages still remain in captivity in ‘brutal conditions’.
Following the sudden assassination, Hamas on Friday said it won’t release hostages until Israel ends its war on Gaza, withdraws from the territory and frees jailed Palestinians, dashing hopes Sinwar’s death would lead to a deal.
The hostages ‘will not return… unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops, there is a complete withdrawal from it, and our heroic prisoners are released from the occupation’s prisons,’ Qatar-based Khalil al-Haya said in a video statement.
Sinwar’s killing came after the death of his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, in July.
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