The architects of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel have gained full control over the terror group but are not expected to redirect the war or improve the group's dwindling capabilities, defense experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Hamas announced on Tuesday that in addition to his military responsibilities, Sinwar would take over the terrorist organization's political leadership role, a role previously held by Ismael Haniyeh, who was assassinated in a bomb blast in Iran on July 31. Several ReportsHaniyeh's death and Sinwar's promotion are unlikely to change the terror group's objectives in the war with Israel, defense experts told the DCNF, but they also say it speaks to Hamas's increasingly dwindling number of players as it continues to lose the war. (Related: Officials say “several” U.S. soldiers injured in rocket attack on Iraqi military base)

The US believes that roughly half of Hamas' fighting forces have been defeated since October 7. according to To the Council on Foreign Relations.

“Israel may have really defeated Hamas, and the organization may indeed be faltering,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told DCNF. “The calculus hasn't changed. But if Sinwar wants to claim something, I think he can only claim the reputation of being the terrorist organization that actually turned Gaza into rubble. There's not much else he can take away.”

Sinwar has been associated with Hamas for decades and became the group's leader in the Gaza Strip in 2017, warning that he would “break the neck” of anyone who challenges his authority. He orchestrated the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and has since been relentlessly pursued by the Israeli military.

Haniyeh was a more public figure than Sinwar, who likely hid in Gaza's underground tunnels after the October 7 attacks.

NORTH GAZA, Gaza – January 7, 2024: In northern Gaza, soldiers emerge from a tunnel allegedly used by Hamas to attack Israel from the Erez border crossing on October 7. (Photo by Noam Garay/Getty Images)

An Israeli military spokesman told DCNF that Sinwar's new role “does not prevent us from pursuing him, but rather provides an incentive to find and target him.” Like Haniya, Sinwar “is a[d]” as well, a spokesperson told DCNF. (Related article: As the winds shift away from Biden, it is reported that Secretary of State Blinken has warned China about Harris' tough views on China relations.)

“This is what happens when a supreme leader is killed. With Sinwar not having much time left, they have to unwind the chain of power from the top down and concentrate it among those who are still alive,” Gabriel Noronha, executive director of Polaris National Security and a former State Department official, told DCNF. “Hamas is not dispersing leadership and power, it is consolidating it.”

A potential complication that Sinwar's new position could raise is the ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel, defense experts said. While Haniyeh was Hamas's top negotiator in the talks, Sinwar was the real “decision maker,” a White House National Security Council official told DCNF. Hamas has rejected several ceasefire proposals since October 7.

“For example, the Hamas team in Doha could not act without hearing from him,” an NSC official told DCNF, referring to the Qatari capital, which is the center of the ongoing negotiations. “So [Sinwar’s new role] It really doesn't change anything.”

Editor's note: Graphic content/Gaza Strip Hamas' new leader Yahya Sinwar (right) and senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh attend the funeral of senior Hamas official Mazen Fakh in Gaza City on March 25, 2017. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

of we International negotiators are trying to continue negotiations for a ceasefire, and an NSC official told DCNF that Hamas must quickly accept “the agreement currently being negotiated,” referring to the latest ceasefire proposal that would end the war and free more than 100 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.

Neither Israel nor Hamas were able to agree on all the terms of the agreement, and while Israel has ended some of its military operations, the conflict in the Gaza Strip is not over. It is unclear what the plans for rebuilding the area after the war will be and which countries will be involved.

“The Arab world's initial reaction to Sinwar's appointment reflects skepticism about the Palestinians' ability to break out of the current impasse,” former Israeli intelligence official Avi Melamed told DCNF. “Hence the reduced willingness of key Arab actors, crucial to the future of Gaza and the Palestinian people in general, to push for a practical post-war solution.”

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