Published: October 18, 2024 4:43 PM IST 
Israel on Thursday killed Yahya Sinwar, the elusive leader of the Hamas, who was widely believed to be the architect of the last year’s deadly October 7 assault on Israel which triggered the ongoing war between the Palestinian armed group and the Jewish nation. Sinwar was killed in an Israeli military offensive in the Tal El Sultan area, in southern Gaza, according to reports.
After Yahya Sinwar’s death, here are some of the other top leaders and commanders of Hamas who are likely to be targeted by Israel:
The brother of Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad Sinwar is one of the most senior, veteran commanders of Hamas’ armed wing. Akin to his deceased brother, Mohammad has been on the top of Israel’s most-wanted list for a very long time. According to Hamas, Mohammad Sinwar has survived several assassination attempts by Israel, including airstrikes and roadside-bomb attacks. The last attempt on his life, until the latest Gaza war, was in 2021, they said.
The deputy of Yahya Sinwar, Khalil Al-Hayya had been representing Hamas in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel under the supervision of Ismail Haniyeh. Hayya, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was in the same building in Tehran where Haniyeh was assassinated with a short-range projectile. However, Hayya survived as he was not in the same apartment as Haniyeh.
Hayya’s extended family was killed in a 2007 Israeli strike in 2007, and in 2014 an attack on his house killed his eldest son.
The deputy of slain Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, Israel had claimed to have killed Marwan Issa in March this year, but Hamas has not confirmed his death. Deif was killed in an Israeli airstrike in July. Issa has earned the nickname “shadow man” for his ability to ability to stay off the enemy’s radar and is said to be part of a three-man secret military council, alongside two other top Hamas leaders who made strategic decisions for the group.
The former chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshal made global headlines in 1997 when Israeli agents injected him with a poison inJordanian capital Amman in a botched assassination mission. Meshal, 68, who led Hamas between 2004 and 2017, is believed to be based in Qatar with other top officials of the Palestinian group.
A surgeon by profession, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, 79, is nicknamed “General” by friends and foes for his hardline views towards Israel. He survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2003 and served as the first Hamas-appointed minister of foreign affairs after the group assumed power in Gaza in 2007 in a brief civil war with the secular Palestinian Authority, a year after it swept a parliamentary election.
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Zahar has made no public statement or appearance since Oct. 7 and his fate remains unknown.
A strong ally and close confidant of Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mustaha, along with Sinwar is said to have established Hamas’ first security apparatus in the late 1980s that was responsible for tracking and killing Palestinians accused of spying for Israel.
In 2011, Mustaha and Sinwar, were released from an Israeli prison. Recently, Hamas has tasked Mustaha with oordinating between the group in Gaza and Egyptian security officials over a range of issues including the operation of the Rafah border crossing.
Earlier this month, Israel had claimed that Mustaha had been killed in Gaza three months ago, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his demise.
Better known as Abu Anas Shabana, he is one of the remaining top and veteran armed commanders of Hamas, heading its battalion in Rafah in the south. As per Hamas sources, Mohammad Shabana has played a key role in developing the network of tunnels in Rafah, which were used to attack Israeli troops along the border.
Shabana took charge of the Rafah battalion after Israel killed three top Hamas commanders group during a 50-day war in 2014, during which the group said it had abducted two Israeli soldiers.
(With inputs from agencies)
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