A truism in the American military is that “There is no problem that cannot be solved with the suitable application of high explosives.” It’s unclear if the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have a similar phrase, but whether they frame things that way or not, the IDF is not shy about using said suitable application of high explosives to revoke the birth certificates of leading Hamas and Hezbollah figures. Only recently, someone — Israel has not claimed credit — used a suitable application of high explosives to un-alive a particularly unsavory character, Ismail Haniyeh, who only last week, while staying in a “guest house” in Tehran, had his pronouns changed to “over here,” and “over there.”
Now, Hamas has chosen another unsavory character, Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, to take Haniyeh’s place.
Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week, the group said on Tuesday, in a move that reinforces the radical path pursued since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Sinwar, the architect of the most devastating attack on Israel in decades, has been in hiding in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of Commander Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement, succeeding the martyr Commander Ismail Haniyeh, may Allah have mercy on him,” the movement said in a brief statement.
Do you know what the thing is about martyrs? They’re dead.
See Related: Iran’s Supreme Leader Vows Revenge on Israel After Assassination of Hamas Political Leader Haniyeh
We Now Know How Israel Was Able to Kill a Hamas Leader in Tehran With Such Precision
Sinwar already had a big target on its back, and there are those in the world, say, the people who un-alived Ismail Haniyeh, who will be putting a laser sight on that target now.
Hamas, as well as some others in the region, seem to have the idea that Hamas under Sinwar may be willing to negotiate.
“The appointment means that Israel needs to face Sinwar over a solution to Gaza war,” said a regional diplomat familiar with the talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which are aimed at bringing a halt to the fighting in Gaza and a return of 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still held in the enclave.
“It is a message of toughness and it is uncompromising.”
That’s as may be. But this appointment just gave the IDF another reason to come look for this guy in Gaza, and sooner or later, they will.
Imagine yourself in the shoes of an Israeli post-Oct 7. One can’t blame the Israelis for not being interested in negotiating, other than the use of diplomacy, as I described in another story, of it being the art of saying “Nice doggy, nice doggy” until you can find a rock. The Israelis have plenty of rocks, ones that go boom, and they seem pretty willing to use them. There’s probably not a life insurance underwriter that would touch this guy Sinwar with an eleven-foot bohunk, which is what you use when a ten-foot pole is too short. Sinwar has just moved one spot up the target list, and other than that, not much has changed.
Remember: There is no problem that cannot be solved with a suitable application of high explosives.
