Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has appointed Yahya Sinwar as its new political chief.
Sinwar, who until now was the group's Gaza chief, will replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in Tehran after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president on July 31.
By choosing him as the group's chief Hamas "is sending a strong message to the occupation that Hamas continues its path of resistance", a senior Hamas official told AFP.
The 61-year-old is a security operator "par excellence", according to Abu Abdallah, a Hamas member who spent years alongside him in Israeli jails.
"He makes decisions in the utmost calm, but is intractable when it comes to defending the interests of Hamas," Abu Abdallah told AFP in 2017 after his former co-detainee was elected Hamas's leader in Gaza.
Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in 1962 in southern Gaza, Sinwar joined Hamas when Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founded the group around the time the first Palestinian Intifada began in 1987.
He is regarded as one of the key players between the Qassam Brigades, and the organisation's politburo. He has taken the lead in reassessing Hamas's solidarity connections.
A single Palestinian state
Sinwar dreams of a single Palestinian state bringing together besieged Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
Sinwar has often reiterated that he won't tolerate anyone who stands in the way of reconciliation with Fatah.
He has been reportedly sending emissaries to Mahmoud Abbas for reconciliation.
He was among 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners released by Israel in exchange for Hamas’s freeing of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.
In a 2018 interview, Sinwar argued that a "new war is in no one's interest, certainly not our interest."
"Hamas leadership is trying to reach a lengthy truce with Israel. In the past such truces have resulted in increased food and much-needed medical shipments that are currently denied or withheld for long periods at a time by Israeli authorities" he added.
When asked about the Israeli siege of Gaza and his response to it?
Sinwar said "I'm not saying I won't fight anymore. I'm saying I don't want any more wars. What I want is an end to the siege. My first commitment is to act in the interest of my people; to protect them and to defend their right for freedom and independence."
"The siege is not quiet," he added.
