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Writer's pictureThe San Juan Daily Star

Appointment of new Hamas leader casts further doubt on cease-fire deal



Yahya Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau, greeting the audience at the International Quds Day festival on the last Friday of Ramadan, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. The selection of Sinwar, a prime target of Israeli forces, to replace the assassinated Ismail Haniyeh consolidates authority in the hands of a hard-liner who is in hiding. (Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times)

By Matthew Mpoke Bigg


Hamas’ decision to name Yahya Sinwar, its hard-line leader in the Gaza Strip and a key planner of the Oct. 7 attacks, to head its political wing could complicate prospects for a cease-fire deal by further empowering him in the troubled negotiations, political analysts said Wednesday.


It could also make Hamas more impervious to pressure from nations like Qatar that have helped mediate the talks, given that Sinwar, unlike other leaders of the group, has remained in Gaza since the war started 10 months ago, the analysts said.


Israel and Hamas have been negotiating for months over a cease-fire deal that would involve the release of hostages taken to Gaza on Oct. 7. The deal would also involve the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention and an increase in the amount of aid to the enclave, and in a later phase is intended to lead to an end to the war.


U.S. and Israeli officials have accused Hamas of intransigence over the deal, and they say Sinwar has always had the power to veto any proposal, given his leadership of the group in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the announcement Tuesday would reinforce that role.


The choice of Sinwar “only underscores the fact that it is really on him to decide whether to move forward with a cease-fire,” Blinken said at a news conference in Annapolis, Maryland, late Tuesday, shortly after the appointment was announced. “He has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to concluding a cease-fire.”


At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has taken a hard line, saying last week that he wanted to put more military pressure on Hamas to squeeze more concessions from the group. Families of hostages taken to Gaza on Oct. 7 have accused Netanyahu of doing too little to reach an agreement that would secure their release.


Around 115 of the people seized as hostages on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza. That number includes the bodies of those who have died or been killed in captivity.


Hamas named Sinwar to replace Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s previous political leader and a key liaison in the indirect cease-fire talks with Israel. Haniyeh, who had been living in Qatar, was killed in an explosion in Iran last week that has been widely attributed to Israel.


Sinwar is a major target of Israel’s military, which has vowed to eliminate him. He has made no public appearances since the start of the war and communicates through intermediaries.


In effect, the naming of Sinwar to the position amounts to a new phase in the cease-fire talks because it binds Hamas to the leader most identified with the war, one who has previously adopted an inflexible approach, according to Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science from Gaza City.


He said Sinwar was also more closely aligned with Iran than others in the group’s top leadership. Iran backs Hamas and has threatened retaliation for the assassination of Haniyeh.


“He isn’t going to make any more concessions. He knows more than anyone else that the hostages are the only card he has,” said Abusada, who is now based in Cairo.

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