Hamas has indicated its path forward in appointing Yahya Sinwar to replace slain politburo head Ismail Haniyeh. It is a one-man show with one vision. Sinwar has told the other senior members of his terror group: "I will navigate, I will lead and anyone who disapproves will end up dead," as did Mahmoud Ishtiwi who was executed in 2016 after he was accused of being gay.
Ishtiwi was a senior commander of the Hamas military wing and a battalion head in Zeitun. He was probably put to death under orders from Sinwar, who suspected that he had collaborated with Israel during the 2014 war and provided information that led to a failed assassination attempt on Mohammed Deif. Deif's wife and two children were killed in the IDF strike.
A few months after the war, an armed Hamas force, led by none other than Sinwar himself, broke into Ishtiwi's home and took him away in front of his shocked family. No amount of pleading to Hamas leaders, helped release him from prison and no accusations of his torture were answered. Nearly a year later, he was executed for "moral crimes."
He was not the first Palestinian to be executed by Sinwar. During his incarceration in Israeli prison, the Hamas leader was dubbed Abu 12, the father of 12, after he was said to have murdered a dozen people suspected of collaborating with Israel. Sinwar was found guilty in the murder of five of them.
The Hamas leader proved how dangerous he could be, and how extreme in his views, before the October 7 massacre. He led Hamas into this brutal war knowing full well that he was about to sacrifice thousands of lives on the altar of his vision – to be the modern-day Palestinian Saladin.
Sinwar understood that Gaza's 2.2 million Palestinians would pay the terrible price for his delusions, but that did not stop him from carrying out his plan.
Gaza is in ruins, the Hamas military wing is in tatters and now the terror group's political wing has fallen into line with the man who has brought the greatest disaster since 1948 onto the population of Gaza.
By choosing Sinwar as the new politburo chief, any appearance of a division of authority or separation between the leadership abroad and the one in Gaza under Sinwar became a thing of the past.
Although Haniyeh's leadership role was mostly symbolic since he left Gaza for Qatar, he maintained some political sway. Now no one will dare oppose the all-powerful Sinwar who will do all it takes to solidify his rule and will eliminate any threat to it, without hesitation.
Under his control, Hamas will become even more extreme, leaning closer to the position of the Muslim Brotherhood and their leader Sayyid Qutb.
Qutb succeeded the founder of the movement and took it farther to the extreme with an ideology that went on to become the basis of groups like al Qaida and ISIS. This is where Hamas will likely stand under Sinwar, A ruthless leader who would not hesitate to harm Palestinians who dare challenge him and will certainly not hesitate to harm Israelis.