Yahya Sinwar | DD News

July 20, 2026 10:20 PM

Hamas names Khalil Al-Hayya as new overall leader

Hamas has named Khalil Al-Hayya as its overall leader, according to a statement from the Palestinian militant group on Monday, in a move an analyst says could signal a tougher stance by the group towards disarmament calls. Hayya replaces Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in combat with Israeli forces in October 2024 as Hamas fought a full-scale, two-year war with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Hayya, the group's exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator, has become an increasingly central figure in the leade...

October 18, 2024 10:35 AM

International reaction to death of Hamas leader Sinwar

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said. Following is international reaction: U.S. President Joe Biden Sinwar's death provides the opportunity for a "day after" in Gaza without the militant group in power. "Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us." Kamala Harris, U.S. vice ...

October 18, 2024 9:43 AM

Hezbollah says it will escalate war with Israel after Hamas leader killed

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said on Friday it was moving to a new and escalating phase in its war against Israel while Iran said "the spirit of resistance will be strengthened" after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, a pivotal event in the year-long conflict. Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity...

October 17, 2024 10:16 PM

Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader committed to eradicating Israel

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar remained unrepentant about the Oct. 7 attacks a year ago, people in contact with him have said, despite unleashing an Israeli invasion that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, laid waste to his Gaza homeland and rained destruction on ally Hezbollah. Two officials with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday that Israeli ministers were told Israeli troops had likely killed Sinwar, 62, dubbed by Israelis "the Face of Evil" and architect of the Hamas cross-bord...

October 17, 2024 11:22 PM

Hamas leader Sinwar is dead, Israel says

Israeli ministers have been informed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has very likely been killed by Israeli troops who were conducting an operation in southern Gaza, two officials with knowledge of the situation said. Israeli broadcasters quoted unnamed officials as saying Sinwar, the architect of the devastating attack on Israel last October that set off the Gaza war, was dead. There was no immediate confirmation from the military, which earlier said it was checking the possibility that Sinwar...

September 4, 2024 11:03 AM

US charges Hamas leaders over Oct. 7 attack on Israel

The United States announced criminal charges on Tuesday against Hamas' top leaders over their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. The charges against Yahya Sinwar, the militant group's chief, and at least five others accuse them of orchestrating the Oct. 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans. That attack triggered an Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 40,800 Palestinians and laid waste to muc...

August 7, 2024 10:17 AM

Hamas names Oct 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar as new leader

Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week, the group said on Tuesday, in a move that reinforces the radical path pursued since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Sinwar, the architect of the most devastating attack on Israel in decades, has been in hiding in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war. "The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of Commander Ya...