Hamas names top militant as new leader in Gaza

by Dramelin 7:30 AM 0 comments

(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas has named a top militant commander as its new leader in the Gaza Strip, an official media outlet confirmed Monday, placing one of the Islamic militant group?s most hard-line figures in charge of operations in its core power base. Sinwar, who is in his mid-50s, comes from the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis and is a founder of Hamas? military wing. A picture taken from the southern Israel-Gaza Strip border on Feb. 7 shows a Hamas outpost, right, on the Gaza Strip border behind Israel`s controversial separation wall. Israel captured the Gaza Strip, along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The military wing, which controls thousands of fighters and a vast arsenal of rockets, has battled Israel in three wars since Hamas seized Gaza a decade ago.