Media: New Hamas leader interested in deal with Israel before Iran attacks

Citing unnamed “Hamas sources,” Channel 12 claims that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar passed along a message to leaders of the terror group outside of Gaza urging them to pursue a ceasefire with Israel and not to wait for the possibility of a major escalation between Israel and Iran, Report informs referring to The Times of Israel.

Channel 12 claims that Sinwar doesn’t have particularly warm ties with Iran, anyway.

On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal reports that “When members of the group gathered to select a replacement [for Haniyeh], Sinwar — believed to be in hiding in a Gaza tunnel — interrupted the deliberations with a message: The new leader must be someone close to Iran.”

For its part, Channel 12 reports that Sinwar is facing significant pressure from his military commanders in Gaza.

Sinwar informed the Hamas leadership in Qatar that none of them are to interfere with the hostage talks other than his deputy Khalil al-Hayya and senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who left Gaza for Beirut shortly ahead of the war’s outbreak, Channel 12 claims.

Channel 12 also says that Sinwar is actually not happy about having been tapped by Hamas leaders to replace Ismail Haniyeh as politburo chief after the latter’s assassination on July 31.

The network explains that Sinwar feels the appointment was a trap, as he’s been given the title without the ability to carry out the duties since he is hiding underground in Gaza. Accordingly, this allows other deputies abroad who he’s not as close with — such as Zaher Jabarin — to become more dominant players within the terror group.

Many news networks have purported to reveal what Sinwar has been thinking throughout the war, but his contact with the outside world has been heavily limited.