Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of slain Hamas chief and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, has risen to the top of Hamas’ chain of command — and has managed to rebuild the terror group’s numbers despite Israel’s 15-month military campaign.
The younger Sinwar’s work was put on display during Saturday’s hostage exchange when Hamas fighters dressed in pristine uniforms escorted four captives in the middle of Palestine Square in Gaza City — surrounded by their supporters who showered the terrorists with confetti.
The show of force during the hostage exchanges have given Hamas the opportunity to demonstrate that it still has a strong grip on Gaza.
Critics say it has also shown Israel’s failure to eradicate the terrorists, with Sinwar touted as the man responsible for revitalizing the group after a lifetime of fighting to destroy Israel.
Sinwar, who was born in 1975, remains as elusive as his older brother was — despite his high-profile new position.
Officials in Israel have dubbed him “the Shadow.”
Following Yahya’s killing by Israeli troops last October, Hamas opted to run Gaza with a council — in an effort to make it more difficult for Israel to take out the leadership of the terror group following back-to-back assassinations.
Sinwar has since become the most prominent member of the council and is reportedly leading the group’s effort to regain its strength following Israel’s 471-day war campaign that killed more than 17,000 terrorists.
The US believes that Hamas has been able to completely replace the operatives killed by Israel thanks to successful recruiting.
“We are in a situation where the pace at which Hamas is rebuilding itself is higher than the pace that the IDF is eradicating them,” Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli brigadier general, told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
“Mohammed Sinwar is managing everything.”
Sinwar is reportedly ordering his men to use the promise of food and medicine to recruit thousands of new members to Hamas amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Hamas members are even going as far as attending funerals of Palestinians killed in the war in the hopes of winning over angry mourners, according to the WSJ.
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Sinwar’s name and status are likely the key drivers for those recruitment efforts, said Colin Clarke, a counter-terrorism expert at New York-based Soufan Group.
But only time will tell if Sinwar proves to be the threat his brother was, or if he will be nothing more than a benefactor of nepotism.
“He’s definitely riding on his name,” Clarke told The Post. “He’s a brand name that carries a lot of clout in Gaza because of his brother, so Hamas will be sure to use that.”
Like his older brother, Sinwar was born in a Khan Younis refugee camp and became radicalized at an extremely young age.
When Sinwar was still a baby, his older brother was attending sermons led by Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a disabled man infamous for his ability to manipulate the Quran to justify violent jihadism.
As a kid, Sinwar spent his days surrounded by terrorists plotting against Israel and grew close to Mohammed Deif, Hamas’ top military chief who helped Yahya plan the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, Clarke said.
Sinwar was 13 when his older brother — known as The Butcher of Khan Younis who brutally murdered fellow Palestinians suspected of spying for Israel — was arrested and taken away to the Jewish state.
The younger Sinwar would find himself imprisoned a few years later in 1991 under suspicion of terrorist activity, with the Israel Defense Forces locking him up for nine months, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Sinwar spent a total of three years in custody throughout the 90s, including by Palestinian security forces who were responding to pressure from Israel.
After that, he laid low.
He eventually made a name for himself within Hamas in 2006 when he helped lead and organize the raid that kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who became the main bargaining chip in a prisoner swap that freed older brother Yahya from prison in 2011.
Mohammad Sinwar had remained close to his brother since his release and is believed to have helped him plan the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
The two brothers were spotted fleeing in a dark tunnel beneath Khan Younis just three days after the terrorist attack, which killed more than 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken captive.
