Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar as its new political leader following the assassination of its chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
The news was confirmed in a statement published by the group on Telegram.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of leader Yahya Sinwar as head of the movement's political bureau, succeeding the martyr leader Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him,” it read.
Mr Sinwar, one of the founding members of Hamas, is the head of its operations in Gaza and has overseen the group's activities in the war-torn enclave since 2017.
He is considered the mastermind of the October 7 attack on southern Israel which sparked the current war, and is one of Israel's most-wanted targets.
He has not made any public appearances since the war began, although the Israeli army has published footage it claims to show the leader in a Gaza tunnel on October 10.
“Yahya Sinwar is the commander … and he is a dead man,” Israel's army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in early October.
In December, the Israeli army issued a $400,000 bounty on Mr Sinwar and dropped leaflets over Gaza offering cash rewards for information leading to his capture.
The announcement comes less than a week after the suspected Israeli assassination of Mr Haniyeh, who was killed while staying at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) guesthouse in Tehran after attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Hamas, Iran and regional allies have vowed “harsh punishment” against Israel over the attack, sending tensions soaring and raising the prospect of an all-out war with Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group is based.
Mr Haniyeh was a chief negotiator for the militant group in delicate months-long efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, where almost 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,000 wounded since the war began.
Hamas said the negotiations, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, were "clinically dead" following the suspected assassination, which has not been publicly claimed by Israel, and would not resume for at least a week.
It is unclear how the new appointment will affect ceasefire talks.
However, Hamas political bureau member Osama Hamdan said that the negotiations to stop the war in Gaza shall continue “under the supervision” of the group’s new leader.
He added in a statement that "the negotiations were conducted by the leadership, and Mr Sinwar was always present and he was not far from the negotiations”.
“It is too early to talk about what the negotiation process will lead to,” he stressed; however, the team “that followed the negotiations under the leadership of the martyr (Ismail) Haniyeh will continue to do so under the supervision of Mr Sinwar”.
Mr Hamdan said that the new chief was “unanimously” chosen to lead the group. “Mr Sinwar is accepted by everyone in the group and is the subject of consensus."
The news also comes as the war threatens to spill over into an all-out conflict in Lebanon, where Israeli jets broke the sonic barrier several times on Tuesday evening as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah spoke for the first time since the death of Mr Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr, killed just hours apart.
He said Israel's punishment "is coming" and claimed other regional allies would also stage attacks on Israel, which has been on high alert since last week.
Iran has threatened a direct attack in the near future, citing its "duty" to avenge Mr Haniyeh.
Israeli authorities have upped GPS jamming in Tel Aviv and central parts of the country, while local councils in the south have opened public bomb shelters and northern residents have been told to avoid any non-essential travel.
At least 19 people were wounded in an explosion in the northern city of Nahariya earlier on Tuesday, later said to be caused by an army interceptor missing its target.
Many nations have also urged their citizens to immediately leave Lebanon for fear the war will imminently escalate.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
