GAZA/CAIRO: Hamas has named Gaza Strip chief Yahya Sinwar as its new political leader a week after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran which has sent regional tensions soaring.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of leader Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement,” a statement from the group said on Tuesday.

Minutes after the announcement, Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired a barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.

The Israeli military and officials accuse Sinwar of being one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack on Israel, making him one of the country’s most wanted militants.

His appointment as the new chief of Hamas comes less than a week after Haniyeh was killed in Tehran.

Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for his assassination. Israel has declined to comment on the killing.

US working ‘around the clock’ to avert ME escalation

On the other hand, the United States has said it is working “around the clock” to avert an all-out war in the Middle East, as Israel remained on high alert for potential Iranian retaliation for two high-profile killings.

US President Joe Biden, whose country has sent extra warships and fighter jets to the region in support of Israel, held crisis talks on Monday with his national security team.

Biden and his top diplomat Antony Blinken sought to calm tensions that have soared since a suspected Israeli attack killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, which helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an attack on Israel in April, while Blinken called top officials in Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

“We are engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message — all parties must refrain from escalation,” Blinken said after joining other top officials in a White House meeting.

Children ‘terrorised’ by Israeli forces’ Jenin raid

Meanwhile, at least 12 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank, including eight in and around Jenin where Israeli forces carried out drone strikes, Al Jazeera reports.

Buildings, roads and infrastructure have been bulldozed by the Israeli army, and houses damaged or destroyed.

“The cars were on top of the building here, we were only able to remove them after the Israeli forces left,” Naser Saad, a Jenin resident, said.

“During the raid, a bulldozer passed by and dragged all cars with it. The children are terrorised. It’s hard for them to process all of this. The sound of the bulldozer itself shakes the whole house. Imagine how the little ones feel.”