Food vs. guns: Will Hamas chose Egypt or Iran?
The military wing of Hamas in Gaza pressures the new boss Yahya Sinwar to mend ties with Iran, while the residents of the Gaza Strip need the assistance of Egypt against the misery of the long closure.
Ismail Haniyeh handed his duties as head of Hamas in Gaza to his elected successor, Yahya Sinwar, Feb. 21. Haniyeh remains deputy head of the movement’s political bureau but is expected to be promoted to replace Khaled Meshaal at the top of the bureau after elections for the Shura Council, the organization’s supreme body, are held.
A senior Hamas source speaking on the condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor that the election process would soon be completed and that Haniyeh would formally be declared the movement’s leader. He declined, however, to elaborate on the reason for the delay. According to the source, Haniyeh is already making decisions and conducting himself as the de facto chief of the political bureau.
