Yahya Sinwar, the terrorist leader of Hamas in Gaza, has reportedly faced criticism from within the organization's leadership for unilaterally authorizing the October 7 attack, according to a report by Sky News in Arabic on Tuesday.
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Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh and terror chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar
(Photo: AFP)
Citing Palestinian sources, the report suggests that Sinwar, along with his brother Muhammad Sinwar, military leader Muhammad Deif, and Marwan Issa, Hamas's deputy military commander, made the decision to launch the attack without consulting other Hamas leaders or the political bureau. This decision apparently left the rest of the leadership uninformed.
A similar report published by Asharq el-Awsat in January, based on sources close to the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, indicated that only five Hamas leaders were involved in the decision-making process for the attack. Notably, Marwan Issa was not mentioned as one of Sinwar's close confidantes in that report.
The decision to carry out the attack and its timing were allegedly finalized on October 6, just a day before the massacre occurred. To maintain secrecy, many of Hamas's field commanders were not briefed on the specifics of the operation until shortly before its execution, while details were shared with leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades units several days prior.
The report suggests that broader knowledge of the attack plan only reached a larger circle of Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas's political bureau, and Saleh Arouri, a senior Hamas figure, a few hours before the attack took place.
The unilateral decision-making by Sinwar and a select group of leaders has reportedly led to internal discord within Hamas, with some members expressing discontent over being excluded from the decision-making process.
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