Leadership shift in Gaza: Al-Haddad likely to replace Sinwar after Israeli elimination strike

The Times news outlet reported on Sunday that the senior Hamas commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad would likely replace Mohammed Sinwar as Hamas’ de facto leader in the Gaza Strip. Al-Hadad has reportedly survived six Israeli assassination attempts and currently remains one of the last living Hamas leaders in Gaza.

The European Council on Foreign Relations have stated that al-Hadad is a member of Hamas’ Military Council and has served as the terrorist group’s Gaza City commander since 2021. In November 2023, al-Hadad was also reportedly appointed to head the northern Gaza brigade. 

If al-Haddad is indeed appointed as Hamas’ new leader, it would signal a tacit admission by the Jihadist group that Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar is no longer alive. 

On May 13, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) reportedly eliminated Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The strike targeted an underground Hamas command center located beneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza, where Mohammed Sinwar and other senior Hamas leaders were meeting. Muhammad Shabana, the commander of Hamas’ Rafah Brigade and a potential successor to Sinwar, was also reportedly killed in the aerial attack.

Less than a week later, the Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya reported that Mohammed Sinwar’s body had been discovered alongside the bodies of 10 other senior Hamas leaders in an underground tunnel. While Sinwar was reportedly quietly buried underground, a senior Hamas official in Qatar claimed that Sinwar was still alive. 

Although Israeli officials were optimistic that Sinwar was eliminated, they refrained for some time before officially confirming it. 

However, last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Sinwar was killed in the Israeli strike. 

“Many feared that we would not rise from October 7, but within just two days, I said that we were going to change the Middle East. We repelled the terrorists, we eliminated [Hamas leaders Mohammad] Deif, [Ismail] Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” Netanyahu stated.

A few days later, the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security agency confirmed that Sinwar was eliminated alongside his deputy Shabana and other senior Hamas officials. 

“The terrorists were eliminated while operating in an underground command and control center under the European Hospital in Khan Younis, deliberately endangering the civilian population in and around the hospital,” the IDF and Shin Bet said in a joint statement. 

The Israeli Air Force reportedly dropped 50 bombs in merely 30 seconds on the tunnel system where Sinwar and the other senior Hamas operatives were hiding. The operation was quickly approved after the Jewish state had reportedly obtained quality and actionable intelligence that Sinwar was holding an irregular meeting with senior Hamas leaders without being surrounded by Israeli hostages as human shields. 

Al-Haddad faces the daunting task of rebuilding a severely weakened and largely leaderless Hamas organization. According to The Times, he had previously been responsible for restoring both military and civilian infrastructure in Gaza during ceasefires with Israel. He also reportedly oversaw the handover of Israeli hostages earlier this year.

The report warns that if Al-Haddad is killed, it could significantly undermine future hostage negotiations. A $750,000 bounty has been offered for information leading to his whereabouts.