Leadership vacuum in Hamas due to demise of Gaza War Council
The confirmed killing of Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’s top military commander, in an Israeli airstrike marks the closure of a significant chapter in Gaza’s militant leadership — the elite inner circle that orchestrated the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, the BBC reported.
Sinwar’s death follows the earlier killings of other senior figures in what was known within Hamas as the War Council — the group that planned and directed the unprecedented assault.
Alongside Sinwar, the council included his brother Yahya Sinwar, military commander Mohammed Deif, deputy leader Marwan Issa, and a fifth, still-unidentified member. Together, they formed the clandestine core behind the operation that ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.
Often called the Quintet Council, this leadership body operated under intense secrecy. Direct meetings were rare. Instead, communication was handled via trusted couriers or older, less detectable technology like cable phones — all aimed at avoiding Israeli surveillance.
The known members of the War Council were:
- Mohammed Deif – the mastermind of the 7 October attack and head of Hamas’s military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades; killed in an Israeli airstrike in July 2024.
- Yahya Sinwar – Hamas’s political leader in Gaza and its most powerful figure in recent years; killed in a firefight with Israeli forces in October 2024.
- Mohammad Sinwar – a key military commander and trusted aide to Deif; his body was identified by Israel following a May airstrike.
- Marwan Issa – Deif’s deputy and a bridge between Hamas’s military and political spheres; killed in March 2024.
- An unnamed fifth figure – believed to have overseen Hamas’s internal security; gravely wounded in an airstrike and reportedly left incapacitated.
Their demise raises a fundamental question: what compelled this group to launch an operation that many Palestinians now view as a political disaster?
Israel’s overwhelming response and the subsequent international backlash have led to growing perceptions of the 7 October attack as a desperate gamble — one that lacked a viable political endgame and brought devastating consequences for Gaza’s civilians.
Unanswered questions
With the War Council’s leadership now largely eliminated, the deeper motivations behind the attack may remain forever unknown. What internal discussions took place?
Were there objections? Was the plan intended to reposition Hamas amid shifting regional dynamics, or was it a final attempt to break Gaza’s long-standing isolation?
These questions may have died with the men who made the decision.
Their deaths leave Hamas facing a leadership vacuum at a pivotal moment. Its military strength is crippled, its external political leadership — once based in Qatar — has gone quiet since November 2024, and its governing structures in Gaza are in disarray.
Without a central command, Hamas risks fragmentation — potentially giving rise to more extreme factions.
Alternatively, the leadership void could create space for recalibration, either within Hamas or among other Palestinian movements looking to redefine the path forward.
The fall of the War Council marks the end of a secretive but influential group that shaped one of Hamas’s most consequential actions.
Whether history will judge them as bold strategists or reckless ideologues, their departure signals the end of a defining era in the movement’s leadership.