Sinwar is Dead: Now What? | FDD SITREP

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Breaking news out of the Middle East: Israel has confirmed the elimination of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. Hamas’s political leader in Gaza since 2017, Yahya Sinwar is considered one of the masterminds behind the October 7, 2023, massacre on Israel.

Sinwar rose through the Hamas ranks as a fierce advocate of violence against Israel, helping establish Hamas’s military, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and the Majd, an internal security service for the Qassam Brigades.

What does the death of Sinwar mean for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza? How does it impact the broader war that Iran’s proxies are waging against Israel? What is the reaction within Israel – and within the Arab world? How might Israel, the United States, and our allies capitalize on this strategic shift on the battlefield?

FDD hosts a live SITREP with former IDF International Spokesperson and FDD Senior Fellow Jonathan Conricus and FDD Research Fellow Hussain Abdul-Hussain, moderated by FDD Senior Vice President for Research Jonathan Schanzer.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 24 years as a combat commander in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, a military diplomat, foreign relations expert. He most recently served as international spokesperson for the IDF in the wake of the Hamas October 7 attacks. From various vantage points along and beyond Israel’s borders, Jonathan has delivered hundreds of security and strategic briefings to foreign groups and dignitaries, including heads of state, military professionals, senior government officials, students, and civil society. Jonathan is a member of the Israel Defense and Security Forum and a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain

Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a research fellow at FDD. He focuses on the Gulf region and Yemen, including on Gulf relations with Iran and Gulf peace with Israel. Born and raised in Beirut, Baghdad and Baalbek, cities that have been the theater of major Middle Eastern events, Hussain earned a degree in History and Archeology from the American University of Beirut, after which he worked as a reporter, and later managing editor, at Beirut’s The Daily Star. He reported from war zones on the Lebanese border with Israel, and from Iraq. In Washington, Hussain helped set up and manage the Arabic satellite network Alhurra Iraq, after which he headed the Washington Bureau of Kuwaiti daily Alrai. Hussain has worked as a Visiting Fellow with London’s Chatham House, and has published in English in The New York Times and The Washington Post and in Arabic in various publications. His analysis has been quoted by Vox, The Jerusalem Post and Newsweek. Hussain has appeared on CNN and MSNBC and is a frequent commentator on major Arabic satellite networks.

Jonathan Schanzer

Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at FDD, where he oversees the work of the organization’s experts and scholars. Jonathan previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. He has held previous think tank research positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum. Jonathan’s latest book Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War (FDD Press, 2021) challenges and corrects some of the wildly inaccurate news reported during the conflict.