Today, Thursday, Israel announced the martyrdom of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) Yahya Al-Sanwarwhich it described as the mastermind of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation that was launched on October 7, 2023, on the settlements and camps around the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar played a major role in Hamas’s military leadership and is one of the most prominent figures on the Palestinian scene, a frequent target of Israeli operations. His martyrdom during clashes in the battle is a major blow to the Hamas movement and the Palestinian resistance.
In the wake of news of the martyrdom of Yahya Al-Sanwar, several names of potential Hamas leaders emerged to assume leadership of the movement. These leaders played pivotal roles in building Hamas’ military and political power, and are considered among the key figures who can lead the next stage. Here are some of them:
Muhammad Al-Deif
Israel attempted to assassinate the Commander-in-Chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades Muhammad Al-Deif 7 times in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2023 and 2024, all of which failed.
The occupation considers “the guest” its most wanted man, and its intelligence services have been working day and night to track him down and seek the opportunity to catch him.
The most famous of these attempts was in late September 2002, when Israeli helicopters bombed cars in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza. He miraculously survived, but was directly hit, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.
At the beginning of August 2023, Hamas announced the martyrdom of Al-Deif’s wife and his 7-month-old son, Ali, in an Israeli raid that attempted to target him.
On July 13, 2024, the occupation attacked an area Al-Mawasi in Khan Yunis With a series of raids, it was announced that they were aimed at assassinating the guest.
But Hamas denied Al-Deif’s presence in the targeted location, and said that these were allegations to cover up the extent of the horrific massacre committed by the occupation.
Al-Deif is a prominent figure in the Palestinian resistance, and represents a symbol of ambiguity and challenge in the face of the Israeli occupation. He was known by the nickname “The Guest” due to his ability to hide and survive repeated assassination attempts. Before his involvement in military action, he played a prominent role in the artistic field, where he founded the “The Returned” band, which is the first Islamic artistic band in Palestine, which aimed to revive the Palestinian heritage and spread messages of resistance through art.
The guest later joined Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigadesthe military wing of the Hamas movement, where he became a prominent military commander. He was known for his sharp intelligence and unique military tactics, and he played a prominent role in the development of… Hamas weaponsWhich made it a major target for the Israeli occupation.
He supervised many important military operations that contributed to strengthening the position of the Palestinian resistance. Among these operations was the capture of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman, which constituted a strong blow to the Israeli army and demonstrated the organizational and strategic ability of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Al-Deif remained out of the limelight, appearing only on rare occasions, usually via messages related to military operations. His name returned to the top of the news again in October 2023 with the launch of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” which reaffirmed his role as a strategic planner and military leader for the Hamas movement.
Marwan Issa
He promises Marwan IssaDeputy Commander-in-Chief of the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and a member of the political and military bureaus of the Hamas movement, he is one of the most prominent leadership figures in the movement and one of the most wanted by Israel. He played a pivotal role in developing the battalions’ capabilities, which posed a real threat to Israel.
Although Israel announced that he was killed in an air strike in March 2023, Hamas did not issue an official confirmation of his death, which kept his fate ambiguous. Issa is called the “Shadow Man” due to his ability to evade Israeli control, and he is one of the pivotal elements in making military decisions within the movement.
Issa – Deif’s right-hand man and second-in-command in the Al-Qassam Brigades – was arrested by the occupation forces during the first intifada, where he spent 5 years in prison (1987-1993) due to his organizational activity within the ranks of the Hamas movement, which he joined at an early age.
Israel considers him a constant threat, and describes him as one of the most prominent minds in the ongoing “war of brains” between it and Hamas. She also describes him as a man of “deeds, not words,” and says he has exceptional intelligence and practical abilities, going so far as to say that he “can turn plastic into metal,” referring to his skills in developing the movement’s military capabilities and his adaptation to difficult circumstances.
Muhammad Al-Sanwar
Muhammad Al-SanwarYahya Al-Sinwar’s brother, is one of the oldest and most prominent leaders of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement. He rarely appears in public, but his central role in leading military operations makes him a vital figure within the movement. He joined the Al-Qassam Brigades from its early beginnings in 1991 in Gaza, where he became a member of the General Staff.
Sinwar (the brother) was a frequent target of Israeli assassination attempts, and survived several attacks, including attempts using air strikes and explosive devices, most recently in 2021. His name emerged as one of the main planners of Operation “Shattered Illusion,” which is considered one of the most daring operations in history. The history of the Palestinian resistance, as the operation targeted an Israeli military site near the Kerem Shalom crossing on June 25, 2006, east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The operation resulted in the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the capture of the soldier Gilad ShalitHe remained in captivity for 5 years, until he was exchanged for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners in a historic exchange deal in 2011.
This military achievement raised the status of Sinwar (the brother) as a military leader with great influence within the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and he became a prominent target on Israeli assassination lists, as a result of his role in planning and carrying out similar operations.
Khalil Al-Hayya
He promises Khalil Al-Hayya Yahya Al-Sinwar’s deputy and a prominent leader in the Hamas movement – is one of the figures who emerged in the course of political and military action within the movement. He recently led indirect talks with Israel regarding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and is considered a central figure in these sensitive negotiations.
Al-Hayya survived several Israeli assassination attempts, most notably the targeting of his home in 2007, which resulted in the killing of a number of his family members, and in 2014 his eldest son was killed in another Israeli attack. There were reports of his presence with Ismail Haniyeh In a building in the Iranian capital, Tehran, during the Israeli attack, but Al-Hayya was not in the targeted apartment at the time of the strike.
Al-Hayya, who holds a doctorate in Sunnah and Hadith sciences, has been involved in the Islamic movement since his early youth under the influence of the founder of Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. He played a prominent role in organizational and security work in the Gaza Strip between 1984 and 1986, where he contributed to protecting Palestinian society from Zionist infiltrations. He also participated in the first Palestinian Intifada in 1987, and was part of the group that later founded the Hamas movement.
In February 2024, Al-Hayya led a Hamas delegation to Egypt to complete talks regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, as part of international efforts to calm the tense situation in the Strip.
Khaled Mishal
Khaled Mishal He is one of the prominent founders of the Hamas movement, and served as head of the movement’s political bureau from 1996 until 2017, and assumed leadership of the movement after the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin at the hands of Israel in March 2004.
Throughout his life, Meshaal devoted his efforts to serving the Palestinian cause, considering armed resistance and political struggle as essential to liberating the Palestinian land. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood at an early age, and participated in founding the Hamas movement in 1987. After the outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada, the movement gained great momentum, and Meshaal became a member of its political bureau since its founding.
In 1996, Meshaal assumed the presidency of Hamas’s political bureau, and after the assassination of Ahmed Yassin, he became the movement’s de facto leader.
Meshaal was subjected to an assassination attempt carried out by the Israeli Mossad in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in 1997, when he was injected with a toxic substance. But the assassination attempt failed after direct intervention from King Hussein bin Talal, who demanded that Israel provide treatment to save his life.
Meshaal moved to Qatar after the Jordanian authorities closed Hamas’ office in Amman in 1999 and arrested him for a short period. Later, he lived in Syria for a long period before returning to Qatar in the wake of the 2012 Syrian crisis.
Mahmoud Al-Zahar
He promises Mahmoud Al-Zahar He is one of the most extremist figures within the Hamas movement, and observers consider him one of the movement’s “hawks.” During his career, he was subjected to several assassination attempts and arrests by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, making him one of the figures that Israel constantly seeks to liquidate.
On September 10, 2003, Al-Zahar was subjected to an assassination attempt when an Israeli F-16 plane targeted his house in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, in an attack that resulted in the martyrdom of his eldest son Khaled and his companion, the wounding of his wife and daughter, and the complete demolition of his house.
Although he sustained minor injuries, he survived the attack. Later, Al-Zahar lost his second son, Hossam, who was a member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, when he was martyred in an Israeli raid on Gaza in January 2008.
Al-Zahar was no stranger to arrests. Israel arrested him in 1988, 6 months after the founding of Hamas, and deported him to Marj al-Zuhur in southern Lebanon in 1992 along with a number of Hamas leaders. The Palestinian Authority also arrested him in 1996, where he was subjected to severe torture, which led to the deterioration of his health.
After Hamas won the legislative elections in 2005 and Haniyeh assumed prime minister, Al-Zahar served as Foreign Minister in the government formed by Hamas. Currently, Al-Zahar’s fate remains unknown after he has disappeared from sight since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and neither Hamas nor Israel have issued any confirmations about his condition.
Muhammad Shabana
Muhammad Shabana, known as “Abu Anas Shabana,” is one of the most prominent military commanders in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, where he commands the Rafah Battalion in the southern Gaza Strip. Shabana is considered one of the main names associated with the development of the network of attack tunnels used by Hamas, and he played a pivotal role in strengthening the movement’s military capabilities.
His role was particularly prominent during the cross-border attack in 2006, where Hamas forces were able to capture Shalit, in a carefully planned operation that relied mainly on the use of tunnels. He also assumed command of the Rafah Battalion after three of its leaders were killed during the Gaza War in 2014.
The tunnel network that Shabana contributed to developing, which extends from Rafah into Israeli territory, constituted a strategic threat to Israel, as Hamas used it to launch surprise attacks and carry out qualitative infiltration operations. These capabilities made Shabana one of the urgently wanted leaders on the Israeli hit list.
Despite being subjected to several assassination attempts, Shabana still plays a pivotal role in Hamas’ military operations, and is considered one of the influential figures that the movement relies on to confront security and military challenges.
My soul desires
Rawhi Mushtaha is considered one of Yahya Al-Sinwar’s closest allies, and one of the most prominent leadership figures in the Hamas movement. He is known for his important role in establishing the first security apparatus of the Hamas movement in the late 1980s, where he was responsible for tracking down Palestinian agents accused of collaborating with Israel and liquidating them. Mushtaha contributed to strengthening the movement’s security capabilities, which made him a constant target of Israeli assassination attempts.
Israel released him in 2011 as part of the famous Gilad Shalit deal, after many years he spent in Israeli prisons. Since then, Mushtaha has assumed many sensitive tasks within the movement, including security coordination between Hamas and the Egyptian authorities, especially regarding the Rafah crossing and many other security issues related to the border.
There were previously reports that he was killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip this October, but Hamas did not officially confirm this news, and his fate remains unclear.