International

With its top unheaded, Hamas seeks new leadership in the middle of the war in Gaza

“Sinwar’s death will not end the resistance or the cause,” Hamas assured by confirming that the top leader of the movement died last week in clashes with Israeli troops in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

The group then said that the Shura Council, its highest advisory body, would meet in the coming days to elect the new head of the political bureau to replace Sinwar, who in turn in August replaced In that position Ismail Haniyeh, eliminated in Tehran in an attack attributed to Israel.

However, Hamas sources have pointed out to EFE the possibility of postponing that decision to March, when internal elections are planned; and delegating the leadership to a five-member steering committee, which will assume the strategic political and military decisions.

“The next step is still under consultation in the direction of the movement. No decision has been made,” a source from the Hamas political bureau told EFE.

It is not the first time that Hamas has faced the assassination of its leaders, but its internal mechanisms are designed to make the movement survive above specific personalities.

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The figures that follow in the first line are:

– Jaled Meshaal: One of the vice presidents of the Hamas political bureau, a body that he already led between 1996 and 2017, when he was succeeded in office by the head of the movement within the Strip, Ismail Haniyeh. That transfer marked the transfer of power from the leaders abroad to those inside Gaza (two years later Haniyeh moved to Qatar).

Born in the West Bank in 1956, he has lived in exile since 1967, when his family fled to Jordan in the Six-Day War. He then moved to Kuwait, where he joined the Muslim Brotherhood. A two-month tour in 1975 through Palestinian lands imbued him with patriotic feelings and he is one of the founders of Hamas in 1987.

He survived a poisoning assassination attempt in Amman by Mossad agents in 1997, by order of Benjamin Netanyahu. With Meshaal in a coma, the King of Jordan demanded the antidote under threat of breaking relations with Israel and trying his spies. Netanyahu had to give in after Bill Clinton’s intervention.

He has lived in Syria, Qatar and Turkey, and is the main representative of Hamas among the Palestinian exodus. With the murders of Haniyeh and the vice president of the political bureau, Saleh al Arouri – last January in Beirut – Meshaal remains the strongest figure of the group abroad.

–Jalil al Hayya: He was Sinwar’s right hand in the political branch within the Strip. After his appointment as president of the group in August, Al Hayya replaced him as head of Hamas in the enclave and occupies one of the three vice presidencies of the office, which corresponds to leaders from within Gaza.

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In 2006 he led the Hamas bloc in the defunct Palestinian Legislative Council. He is a prominent supporter of the armed struggle against Israel and has survived several assassination attempts, the most serious in 2007, when an attack on his house in the northern Strip killed several of his relatives.

It was he who, the day after Israel announced Sinwar’s death, confirmed the news on behalf of Hamas, which can augur a prominent role.

– Mohamed Sinwar: He is the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar and a prominent commander of the al Qasam Brigades, the armed arm of Hamas. Before the death of several commanders during the war – including their military chief, Mohamed Deif, and his ‘number two’, Marwan Issa – he assumed military command of the southern half of the Strip, from Nuseirat to Rafah.

He grew up in the ranks of the Hamas military wing since the nineties, when he was a teenager, in the shadow of his brother. Although his leadership is on the military level, the current war context leaves him a wide margin of decision and autonomy. It is one of the “most sought after” by Israel.

– Musa Abu Marzouk: He is a member of the political bureau and, together with Haniyeh, promoted a pragmatic approach in negotiations with Israel for a ceasefire. In the 1990s, when he resided in the United States, he was arrested for raising funds for the armed wing of Hamas, and then remained in exile in Jordan, Egypt and Qatar.

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– Izz ad Din al Haddad: He was the commander of the Gaza City Brigade when the war began, but now he holds military command of the entire northern part of the enclave. Together with the little Sinwar, he is in charge of continuing the “war of attrition” against Israel and co-directing military operations.

– Zaher Jabarin: He was from the circle close to Sinwar and Haniyeh. Handles the financial affairs of the group. Before he participated in military activities, so he was arrested by Israel and released in 2011 in the same exchange of more than a thousand prisoners for soldier Gilad Shalit, in which Sinwar was also released from prison.

International

Venezuela accuses Guyana of “warlike intentions” after UK defense deal

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez denounced what she called “warlike intentions” from Guyana on Saturday (April 12, 2025), following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Guyana and the United Kingdom aimed at strengthening bilateral defense cooperation.

“Guyana threatens Venezuela with its founding fathers. The UK and the U.S. are the architects behind the territorial dispossession of our Guayana Esequiba. These are the same actors who forged a fraudulent arbitration award in 1899 to strip Venezuela of its land,” Rodríguez stated via Telegram.

Rodríguez, who also serves as Venezuela’s Minister of Hydrocarbons, warned the region about “these drums of war, in clear violation of the CELAC declaration that recognizes Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace.”

“Venezuela will stand firm in defending its legitimate rights, sovereignty, and territorial integrity in all scenarios,” she added.

International

Nightclub Collapse in Dominican Republic Claims 226 Lives

The death toll from the collapse of a nightclub in the Dominican Republic has risen to 226, authorities confirmed on Saturday after completing the recovery and identification of the bodies.

The tragedy occurred in the early hours of April 8, when the roof of the venue collapsed during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who also died at the scene.

“There were 221 victims found at ground zero and four more who died in hospitals,” said Health Minister Víctor Atallah during a press conference. Later, his office confirmed the death of a Costa Rican national on Saturday, bringing the total to 226.

Atallah added that the number of fatalities could still rise, as several people remain in critical condition.

International

Trump Authorizes Military to Take Control of Federal Land Along U.S.-Mexico Border

In a presidential memorandum issued Friday afternoon, Trump directed the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, and Agriculture to facilitate the transfer of designated public lands to allow for “military activities” under the jurisdiction of the Pentagon.

According to the document, the land transfer must begin within the next 45 days. The only area specifically named in the order is the so-called “Roosevelt Reservation”, a narrow strip of federally owned land—approximately 20 meters wide—that runs parallel to the U.S.-Mexico border for about 1,000 kilometers, stretching from New Mexico to California.

The memo does not clarify what specific military operations will take place on these lands or what their exact purpose will be.