Eleventh month of war in Gaza, Hamas defies Israel by appointing its new leader

The war in the Gaza Strip entered its eleventh phase on Wednesday This month, at a time when Hamas is defying Israel by carrying out his head Yahya Sinwar, one of the country's most wanted men, as the conflict threatens to spread across the Middle East.

Israel immediately promised to “eliminate” Yahya Sinouar, who replaced Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated on July 31 in Tehran.

Israel accuses Yahya Sinwar, 61, until now the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, of being one of the masterminds of the unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, which triggered the war.

Hunted by Israel, Yahya Sinwar has not appeared in public since October 7.

While all attempts at mediation have failed, the war, which has left nearly 40,000 dead, according to Hamas, in the small besieged Palestinian territory, has rekindled tensions in the Middle East, between Iran and its allies, including Lebanese Hezbollah, on the one hand, and Israel on the other.

These tensions have redoubled following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, attributed to Israel, and that of Fouad Chokr, the military leader of Hezbollah who died on July 30 in an Israeli strike near Beirut.

Fouad Chokr is accused by Israel of being responsible for an attack that killed 12 children and adolescents on July 27 on the annexed Syrian Golan Heights. Hezbollah had denied any involvement.

– “Strong message” –

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon intercepted by Israeli air defenses over the Upper Galilee in northern Israel on August 6, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

Hezbollah and Iran are “obliged to retaliate” to these two assassinations, the head of the Lebanese armed movement, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday. Hezbollah will retaliate “alone or as part of a unified response” by Iran and its allies, and “whatever the consequences,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is to meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the request of “Palestine and Iran,” to reach “a unified Islamic position” in the region, according to an OIC official.

Palestinians walk on a street in Deir el-balah in the Gaza Strip, August 7, 2024 © AFP – Eyad BABA

Faced with the risks of an extension of the war, the international community is engaged in a race against time to find ways of appeasement and relaunch negotiations for a ceasefire associated with the release of the hostages held in Gaza.

Diplomatic contacts are increasing, particularly between the mediating countries, the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

“Mr. Sinouar was and remains the primary decision-maker regarding the conclusion of a ceasefire,” the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, stressed on Tuesday.

The Secretary of State, whose country is Israel's main ally, has for the first time publicly asked Iran and Israel to avoid a military “escalation.”

But for the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, the nomination of Yahya Sinouar “is an additional reason to eliminate him quickly” and to “wipe off the map” Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.

A Hamas official said Tuesday that the appointment sent a “strong message” to Israel.

Hezbollah also spoke of a “strong message” and said the choice “confirmed that the enemy has failed to achieve its objectives” against Hamas.

“Hamas responds to assassination,” ran the headline on Wednesday in the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, under a photo of Yahya Sinouar.

– “A fighter” –

In the Gaza Strip, residents interviewed by AFP said they were pessimistic after the appointment of Yahya Sinouar, who would live in the Palestinian territory unlike Ismail Haniyeh who was based in Qatar, a key interlocutor of Hamas.

“He is a fighter, how can negotiations take place?”, wondered a Palestinian, Mohammed al-Sharif. Another Gazan, Hani al-Qano, however hoped “that this will speed up the end of the war, because Sinwar lives inside the Gaza Strip among the besieged population”.

After ten months of war, the Israeli army is continuing its land and air offensive against Hamas, in power since 2007 in Gaza, particularly in areas that it had claimed to have taken control of but where fighting has resumed.

Israeli police at the scene of a Hezbollah drone attack near Nahariya, northern Israel, on August 6, 2024 © AFP – Menahem KAHANA

The army announced on Wednesday that it was continuing its operations in the center of the territory and had “eliminated many terrorists.”

The attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas commandos in southern Israel resulted in the death of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.

Of the 251 people kidnapped, 111 are still being held in Gaza, 39 of whom are dead, according to the army.

In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive that has so far killed 39,677 people, including at least 24 in 24 hours, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government, which does not provide details on the number of civilians and fighters killed.

Israel has been on high alert for nearly a week, awaiting the response promised by Iran and its allies.

Passengers in front of a display board at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, August 6, 2024 © AFP – GIL COHEN-MAGEN

Fears of a conflagration are also very high in Lebanon, where Israeli military planes once again broke the sound barrier over Beirut on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Hezbollah, very powerful in Lebanon, has exchanged fire almost daily with the Israeli army along the border separating southern Lebanon from northern Israel.

In this context, several countries have called on their nationals to leave the country and airlines have suspended their connections with the Lebanese capital.

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