Mohammed Sinwar: Yahia Sinwar’s ruthless brother who “returned from the dead” and is pronounced as Hamas leader

After the death of the leader of Yahia Sinwar the debate on his succession has grown brightly. The name that sounds intensely is that of Mohammed Sinwar’s brother. Mohammed Sinwar brother of Hamas’ late leader, Yahia Sinwar is one of the highest-ranking commanders of the terrorist organization’s military branch and could be one of the prevailing to take over the group. Several high-ranking Hamas officials, all with a long history in field operations and political maneuvers, have been heard of but Yahia Sinwar’s little brother looks like many favourites. After the death of Hamas senior military commanders, including Mohammed Deif and Marwan Isa, Mohammed Sinwar emerged as the de facto second in Hamas leadership in Gaza. Now with the death of Jahiah’s brother, he may be called upon to fill in the void of authority of the organization left by his brother. Besides, according to experts, he’s more ruthless and cunning than his big brother. When Mohammed Sinwar was born in 1975 in the Han Eunice refugee camp, his brother Yahia was already 13 years old. Their family left a village near the city of Askelon in 1948 and settled in southern Gaza. The Sinwar brothers fed a burning hatred for Israel and quickly became part of the terrorist attacks culminating in the terrible attack of October 7, 2023 against Israeli citizens. In 1989, when Jahia was arrested and sentenced to five times life, Mohammed was 14 years old. In 1991, Mohammed was arrested by Israeli forces (IDF) for suspected terrorist activity and imprisoned in Ktzi’ot prison, Israel’s largest prison and one of the largest detention facilities in the world. After nine months he was free. He came very close to key founders of Hamas’ military wing, such as Mohammed Daif. As attacks on Israelis became increasingly deadly, the confidence and prestige of his “brother Yahya” Mohammed grew, especially during Jahia’s stay in Israeli prisons. Mohammed was also often arrested by Palestinian security forces under Israeli pressure and eventually spent a total of three years under their supervision. Its prestige further increased in April 2003, when Israel repeated its counter-terrorism operations and an IDF helicopter targeted and killed Sa’ad Al-Arabid, Mohammed’s close associate. All these years, Mohammed acted alongside senior Hamas commanders and maintained links to key figures such as Hassan Salameh, who also participated in deadly terrorist attacks. Israel has made repeated attempts at the life of Mohammed Sinwar over the years. A former security official who knew Gaza’s secret services revealed that more targeted operations were carried out against Mohammed Sinwar than any other senior Hamas executive. “Mohamed Sinwar not only participated during the organization’s military development, from al Kasam Brigades to the full military wing, but played an active and even leading role. It is no coincidence that his house was bombed several times in the last two decades. The operations for his elimination were huge but unsuccessful,” the former official explained. During the last operation, rumours were released that Shinwar had been killed, with images claiming to show his dead body. However, Sinwar remained elusive and his name was “turned off” until May 2022. Some media have called him “the ruthless brother who returned from the dead”. In May 2022, Sinoire reappeared in a brief 30-second interview in Al Jazeera as a silhouette. It was a technique that Mohammed Def’s mentor used for years. A leader in Salt’s kidnapping In 2006, Mohammed once again proved his loyalty – first and foremost – to his brother Jahiah, who was then imprisoned in Israel, as he led the kidnapping operation of Israeli soldier Gilad Salitt and held him later captive until his brother was released in 2011. Both the senior Hamas leaders and Israeli security officials knew that Yahia would be released under the Schalit Agreement, mainly due to Mohammed’s involvement in the operation. Salit’s kidnapping was not the only operation Mohammed carried out for his brother. In 1992, he participated in a mission led by Mohammed Defe for the kidnapping and murder of Private Alon Karavani”. “Many don’t understand who Mohammed Sinwar really is. “He is an archtromocrat who personally murdered Palestinians during interviews, with the aim of learning how IDF and Shin Bet operate. He did not hesitate to torture and kill his own people,” said a former security official. The series of horrible acts he committed helped him understand the Israeli side to the point where he tried to turn agents against Israel. He can even recognize aircraft from the sounds they make. No one in Hamas understands Israel’s secret operational plans better than him. He conducted all the interviews himself, learning everything from beginning to end.” According to military sources, Mohammed Sinwar is considered even more ruthless than his brother Yahia. “You will not find an important event in Hamas’ military development in the last 25 years in which Mohammed Sinwar did not participate. He served as commander of Han Eunice, an extremely high-ranking role, and even the commanders who followed him operated under his influence. It is important to understand that he was Daif’s spokesman in the field, speaking with fighters, brigade commanders and battalion leaders when Daif could not or did not want to be present, which strengthened his power. On the other hand, he was strongly loyal to Daif, never undermining him. Everyone knew that every decision he made had Def’s support, an advantage that Mohammed enjoyed largely.” Master in understanding the tactics of Israeli intelligence and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) – seen in the events of October 7th – but also in bringing different organizations to his side. One example is how he recruited the violent and dangerous Durmush brigade, responsible for smuggling weapons and drugs from Sinai to Gaza, to carry out the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Salit. In addition, he persuaded the “Ansar Bait al-Maqdis” brigade based in Sinai, originally associated with Al Qaeda, to promise faith in ISIS under his influence, thus establishing the province of Sinai, ISIS. In return, Shinwar provided them with weapons and training for attacks on the Egyptian army in Sinai. In return, the group promised to ensure that arms shipments to Gaza would reach their destination as planned. “He understands much better than his brother what concessions on the ground could turn boomerang for Hamas. Some believe Mohammed is more cunning and ruthless than Jahiah, preferring to pull the strings from the background, while his brother benefits from the prestige he gained during his decades in Israeli prisons,” said a former security official.