Who is the new Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar?

The leader of the Hamas movement within the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, was known for founding the internal security bodies of Hamas. 

Israel sentenced Sinwar to four life terms in the late 1980s.

He served 23 years for leading the group’s first security apparatus, Majd, which targeted and killed Palestinians it suspected of collaborating with Israel.

During his time in prison, Sinwar learnt Hebrew and read Israeli newspapers, moves that analysts said were aimed at better understanding his enemy.

In 2011, he was freed along with 1,047 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Gaza fighters in a cross-boundary raid in 2006.

Sinwar returned to his position as a prominent leader in Hamas and was appointed head of the group in the Gaza Strip in 2017.