Western reporting on Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh reduces them to shallow types — reality is much more complicated.
Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh attend a gathering in Gaza City, Palestine, on May 1, 2017.Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh attend a gathering in Gaza City, Palestine, on May 1, 2017.After Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas Political Bureau, was assassinated in Tehran, the Movement’s senior consultative body, the Shura Council, quickly and unanimously chose Yahya Sinwar as his successor.
An important and more commonly known chapter in Sinwar’s political experience was the key role he played in negotiations that led to the release of over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011, including Sinwar himself, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Qassam Brigades fighters in 2006. A lesser-known aspect of Sinwar’s time in prison was the careful skill with which he engaged and rallied Palestinians across factional lines within prison strikes and protests.
The Hamas-Dahlan deal was met with limited success, but it pointed to two essential aspects of Sinwar’s tenure as head of the Gaza leadership: bridging differences with other segments of Palestinian politics and society and balancing foreign relations in a new regional landscape. More specifically, through his close ties to the UAE and Egyptian governments, Dahlan secured the entry of some fuel through the Rafah Crossing.
Consultation describes best practices and structures within Hamas. The Movement has consultative bodies at various levels that function as accountability and advisory structures for political leadership. Members are elected and are inclusive of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, the diaspora, and the prisons. The high-level consultative body, the General Shura Council, appoints members to an independent body that coordinates and oversees Political Bureau elections to ensure transparency.
Meshaal’s point about prisoners stands out. He described them as the “pride of our people.” When pressed for details on the plan to secure their freedom and if it entailed capturing more Israeli soldiers, Meshaal declined to elaborate. Two months later, the overthrow of the Morsi government in Egypt would entirely change the formula for Hamas operations, which likely caused a recalibration for Political Bureau leadership.
Over the years, Hamas has demonstrated its ability to leverage the diverse backgrounds of its leaders to strengthen its capacity across military, political, diplomatic, and popular fronts. Rooted in principles of consultation and accumulation, Hamas is at once a horizontal Movement and a Movement of institutions. Effective institutions like the Shura Council have helped the Movement see itself through moments of uncertainty, like the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
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