Yahya Sinwar: Who is the Hamas leader?

Yahya Sinwar , known as Abu Ibrahim , was the chief architect of the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel .

Sinwar was named Hamas 's overall leader following the assassination of Ismail Hanieyh in Tehran in July .

The 61-year-old was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp at the southern end of the Gaza Strip .

He was reportedly in contact with Qatar -based Hamas officials involved in negotiating a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Sinwar was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal in exchange for a single Israeli hostage.

While incarcerated Sinwar had become fluent in Hebrew , reading Israeli newspapers.

Yaari says Sinwar always preferred to speak Hebrew with him, even though Yaari was fluent in Arabic .

Sinwar has since called for more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.

Analysts have identified him as a key figure linking Hamas 's political bureau with its armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades , which led the October 7th attacks in southern Israel .

Iran funds, trains and arms Hamas , helping it to build up its military capabilities and amass an arsenal of thousands of rockets, which it uses to target Israeli towns.