With Sinwar dead, the Hamas leadership for Gaza has temporarily passed to his Qatar-based deputy, Hayya.
CAIRO - The Palestinian militant group Hamas will likely replace Yahya Sinwar with a new political leader based outside Gaza while his brother - Mohammad Sinwar - is expected to assume a bigger role directing the war against Israel in the territory, experts say.
Sinwar's deputy Khalil Al-Hayya, who is viewed as a potential successor, struck a defiant note on Friday, saying Israeli hostages would not be returned until Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza and the war ended. Besides Hayya, who is Hamas' chief negotiator, the other main leadership contenders are Khaled Meshaal, Haniyeh's predecessor, and Mohammad Darwish, a little-known figure who chairs the Shura Council, according to analysts and a Hamas source.Hamas will need to notify Qatar, which has played a major role in rounds of so far fruitless ceasefire talks, and other regional capitals ahead of its decision, the source said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared Sinwar's killing a milestone but that the war is not yet over, saying fighting would continue until the hostages are released. A Hamas source said Hayya was expected to encounter no problems exercising his role as"de facto Gaza leader". The source noted that Hayya had maintained good relations with the military wing and had been close to both Sinwar and Haniyeh.
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