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Israel sees ‘hawkish’ trend in new Hamas leader in Gaza

February 14, 2017 at 2:08 pm

The armed branch of Hamas, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades spokesman, Abu Obeida speaks in Rafah, Gaza on 31 January 2017. [Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency]

Analysts in Israel regard Yahya Sinwar’s election as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip as a reinforcement of what they called the “hawkish” trend, and see it as an indication of a potential military escalation. According to a trusted source, Sinwar was head of the Hamas military wing before the elections, Anadolu has reported.

The Hamas election began on 3 February, resulting in Sinwar’s victory. He succeeds Ismail Haniyeh and is now also Khaled Meshaal’s deputy within the Hamas Political Bureau.

According to Avi Issacharoff, a Palestinian affairs analyst for Israel’s Walla news site, “The Israelis view this development as a victory for the extremist camp in Hamas.” Sinwar and others elected to hold office within Hamas, including Rouhi Mushtaha, are believed to be the “most extreme” figures in the movement. “There are fears in Israel that his election may be an indicator of matters progressing towards escalation,” he added.

Since the announcement of Sinwar’s election, the Israeli media have discussed and written about him widely, looking deep into his past, especially the period spent in Israeli prisons.

Read: The new leader of Hamas in Gaza is Yahya Al-Sinwar

“While he was in prison,” explained Issacharoff, investigators called him “Man of the 12”; not, he pointed out, because he was the twelfth in the Hamas leadership, but because he is said to have been responsible for killing 12 individuals accused of collaborating with Israel in Gaza.

Nevertheless, said the analyst, the investigators who questioned him while in prison claimed that although Sinwar is part of the extremist camp, he is a respectable person. “Sinwar understands Israel to a large extent and in a remarkable manner. He is fluent in Hebrew and has a strong command of the language in writing, reading and speaking. He also understands the composition of Israel very well.”

For the military analyst of Haaretz, Sinwar’s election indicates the growing power of the military wing at the expense of Hamas’ political wing in Gaza. “Sinwar is described as the strongman of Hamas’s military wing,” Amos Harel pointed out.

The Times of Israel suggested that Sinwar “is considered hawkish even within Hamas, and opposes any compromise in its policies regarding the Palestinian Authority and Israel.” Even from prison, it added, he was one of the main opponents of the Shalit [prisoner] exchange deal that saw him freed. “He regarded the terms — one Israeli soldier for 1,027 prisoners — as a surrender to Israel’s conditions.”

The newspaper said that since his release, Sinwar “has managed to amass a great deal of political power in Hamas, and was already widely considered the strongest man in Gaza even though he was not the head of Hamas’s military or political wing.” It quoted Kobi Michael, an analyst and former head of the Palestinian Desk at Israel’s Ministry for Strategic Affairs, as saying that the appointment would cause alarm among Israeli politicians.

Read: Hamas rejects prisoner swap

“He represents the most radical and extreme line of Hamas,” said Michael. “Sinwar believes in armed resistance. He doesn’t believe in any sort of cooperation with Israel.”

One expert in Palestinian politics, the head of the Middle East Studies programme at the International Disciplinary Centre, told the Jerusalem Post that Sinwar’s election reflects the ascendancy of Hamas’s military wing.

“His victory indicates that Hamas’s military wing, which is more hard-line and extreme than the political leadership, has taken charge of an important position in Hamas’s leadership,” said Shaul Mishal. “This man can put Israel to the test in a way that other Hamas leaders have not,” he concluded. “He may be much more willing to check where Israel’s red lines are and resort to violence.”