Who is next in line after the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar?

Israel, in its determined attempt to eliminate the entire Hamas leadership, killed its newly elected political chief Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday. Sinwar, credited as the architect of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, had taken the role two months ago after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

Before his death on October 16 in an operation in Gaza, Sinwar had successfully evaded several assassination attempts by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He had been on the run for a year and was killed by Israeli forces as part of a routine patrol while lying low with three other Hamas militants in a hideout in Rafah.

While many prominent members of Hamas’s top leadership have been killed in the ongoing conflict, a few figures remain who could potentially succeed Sinwar. Khaled Meshal — The Top Contender
According to The New York Times, Khaled Meshal is the leading candidate to replace Sinwar. Meshal has previously held the reins of Hamas’s political leadership. After Hamas went into exile, Meshal became the leader of its political office in 1996.