No successor for Yahya Sinwar, Hamas to be led by a ruling committee

In a surprising move, the Palestinian militant group Hamas has reportedly decided not to name a successor to its slain chief Yahya Sinwar. According to reports, Hamas is set to appoint a ruling committee based in Doha to lead its operations, rather than elevating someone from its top leadership to the chairmanship of its Political Bureau.??

CREDIT: REUTERS

New leadership structure for Hamas

A Hamas source told AFP that the leadership's approach was not to appoint a successor to the late chief until their next elections, scheduled for March, if conditions permit.??

A five-member committee that was formed in August, following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, will take over the leadership of Hamas.??

The committee is made up of representatives from the two Palestinian territories and the diaspora, namely Khalil al-Hayya for Gaza, Zaher Jabarin for the West Bank, and Khaled Meshaal for Palestinians abroad.??

CREDIT: REUTERS

It also includes the head of Hamas's Shura advisory council, Mohammed Darwish, and the secretary of the political bureau.??

Why Hamas has a leadership crisis

The development comes at a time when Hamas, which has been at war with Israel in Gaza for more than a year now, has lost many of its key leaders, including Haniyeh and Sinwar.??

This has left a clear leadership vacuum in the ranks of Hamas, which promised to continue the war even after the death of Sinwar.??

Earlier, several names, including that of Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, were projected to be among those considered to become the next Hamas chief.??

CREDIT: REUTERS

Who was Yahya Sinwar

Yahya Sinwar, who was infamous as 'the Butcher of Khan Younis', was killed on 16 October in Tel al-Sultan in a gunfight with the Israeli army.??

The alleged mastermind of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack in Israel, Sinwar was made the chief of the militia after his predecessor Haniyeh was killed in July of this year.

For more news and current affairs?from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.