Who is Mohammad Sinwar and could he become the next Hamas leader?
The IDF says this photo shows Mohammad Sinwar in a car near the Erez crossing.
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a strike by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has left the terror group without a commander and could prove to become a turning point in Israel's war in Gaza.
Sinwar spent years building up Hamas's military strength and was the alleged mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 terror attacks on southern Israel.
Now Sinwar's 49-year-old brother Mohammad is being seen as one person who could be installed as Hamas's next leader.
And that's even though he was believed to have died back in 2014.
The killing of Yahya Sinwar has left Hamas without a leader.
Who is Mohammad Sinwar?
Mohammad Sinwar was born in 1975 in a refugee camp in the city of Khan Younis, north of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The IDF says he is the leader of Hamas's paramilitary wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
He took over as commander after the death of the Brigades' previous head, Mohammed Deif, in an Israeli air strike on July 13.
What are the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades?
Hamas has been listed as a terror organisation since 2001 by the Australian government.
The government's National Security website says the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades group provides Hamas with military capabilities in Gaza and operates separately to the political arm of Hamas.
The Brigades were listed independently as a terror organisation in 2003 and then again in 2021.
The group is described by the Australian government as being "organised secretively, comprising compartmentalised cells that specialised in terrorist attacks, assassinations and kidnappings inside Israel".
The first-known terror attack launched by the Brigades was in 1993. Since then, it has been responsible for more than 350 terror attacks and killed more than 500 people in the "vicinity of Gaza", according to the Australian government.
Is Mohammad Sinwar alive or dead?
Mohammad Sinwar was believed to have died back in 2014, when the IDF said it killed him in a strike on a residential complex during a seven-week aerial attack against Hamas known as Operation Protective Edge.
But nine years later an Israeli military raid uncovered evidence that he might still be alive.
Troops who raided a Hamas training compound on November 10, 2023 found military documents in offices that they said belonged to the Sinwar brothers.
On December 17, 2023 a video was released online by the Israeli army which it said showed Mohammad Sinwar alive and travelling in a car through a tunnel near the Erez crossing, at the northern border between Gaza and Israel.
What might happen next?
Questions remain over the future leadership of Hamas in light of Yahya Sinwar's death.
Strategic Analysis Australia's international relations analyst Michael Shoebridge says there is a chance Mohammad Sinwar could be installed as the terror group's next leader.
He says if that happens it will keep Hamas on the track of fighting "an increasingly apocalyptic war" against Israel, and "continuing the suffering of the Gazan population".
"The question is, does any successor want that? And if the successor comes from the Gazan fighters of Hamas, it's more likely they'll want to continue that apocalyptic vision of Sinwar's," he explained.
Palestinians waiting at a food distribution point in Gaza this week.
Mr Shoebridge says the other option available to Hamas would be for the organisation's political leaders, who are currently living in Qatar, to assume power over the group.
"The actual leadership of Hamas has lived in Qatar for a long time. It's an anomaly to have the leader in Gaza, and that was only because of the unique leadership of [Yahya] Sinwar as the architect of the October 7 attacks," he said.
"I think we've got a bunch of pretty shattered different groupings that bear little resemblance to the pre-October 7 Hamas."
ABC Middle East correspondent Eric Tlozek reported that analysts suggest Yahya Sinwar's death could be used by Israel to claim victory over Hamas, agree to a ceasefire and strike a deal to release hostages kept captive in Gaza.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Yahya Sinwar's death will not mark the end of his country's war in Gaza.
"To the people of Gaza, I have a simple message: This war can end tomorrow. It can end, if Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages," he said in an address after Yahya Sinwar's death.
By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-19/who-is-mohammad-sinwar/104488460(责任编辑：admin)
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