With Haniyeh dead and Sinwar in the tunnels, Hamas’ defense is left to a man Netanyahu tried to kill 27 years ago
When Hamas injured Israel with the worst attack in its history, on October 7, 2023, it had Ismail Haniyeh in the lead. Exiled in Qatar, and considered a moderate voice within the Islamist group, this man born in a Gaza refugee camp was killed on July 31, in Tehran, in an unclaimed attack, but attributed to Israel.
He was succeeded, at the head of the Palestinian group, by military strategist Yahya Sinwar, considered the main architect of the 7th of October. Today, he is Israel’s most wanted — and hated — man, who he estimates may be hidden in the Gaza Strip’s extensive tangle of underground tunnels. With Haniyeh dead and Sinwar hidden, a former leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has gone public defending the extremist group and predicting a long life for it.
