Israel-Hamas war latest: Hamas chooses Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar as their new leader

The Palestinian militant group Hamas chose Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader. The group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed July 31 in Iran by a presumed Israeli strike.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to the decision by saying Sinwar has the power to ensure that a cease-fire deal is reached for the Israel-Hamas war.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday about their hopes of a cease-fire and hostage release deal calming tensions in the Middle East, which soared after the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah confirmed that Israel killed a top commander after a rare strike in Beirut, as well as Haniyeh’s killing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet over the weekend that Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.

Inside Gaza, the only corridor for humanitarian aid to enter the south has been shut down because of fighting in the area. The Palestinian territory faces a severe humanitarian crisis as its Health Ministry says the death toll in the enclave is nearing 40,000.

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Here’s the latest:

JERUSALEM — Protesters disrupted an Israeli Supreme Court hearing Wednesday about a shadowy military facility where Israel has held Palestinian detainees throughout the war in Gaza.

The protesters yelled “Shame!” as the attorney for a number of Israeli human rights groups argued that the Sde Teiman facility should be closed permanently over repeated allegations of detainee abuse. An Associated Press investigation into the facility, as well as others by rights groups, found detainees endured abysmal conditions there.

The Israeli military said July 29 that it detained nine soldiers for questioning following allegations of “substantial abuse” of a detainee at Sde Teiman, located in southern Israel. The arrests prompted an outcry from right-wing government officials, and several hundred protesters swarmed the military base where the detained soldiers were held, calling the arrests an affront to their service.

On Tuesday night, Israel’s Channel 12 aired what it said was security camera footage from Sde Teiman that showed several soldiers moving a detainee to the side of a large hall where other detainees are seen laying on the floor on their fronts with their hands over their heads. In footage from a different angle, the soldiers are shown in a huddle and lifting up protective shields, apparently concealing the detainee from view, the report said. Channel 12 said the video was part of the investigation into alleged sexual assault.

The military has generally denied ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees, though a United Nations human rights office issued a report accusing Israel of mistreating Palestinian prisoners. Following the accusations of harsh treatment that prompted this court case, Israel said it was transferring the bulk of Palestinian detainees out of Sde Teiman and upgrading it. According to testimony during the hearing, there are currently around 30 Palestinians being held at Sde Teiman on a daily basis.

The human rights organizations that brought the case argued that the entire facility should be closed because it does not meet minimum humanitarian standards for detainees. It was not immediately clear when a ruling was expected.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey will file a request Wednesday with a United Nations court to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel, a Turkish official said.

The declaration of intervention will be submitted at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations that bar officials from speaking to the media without prior authorization.

South Africa brought a case to the International Court of Justice late last year, accusing Israel of violating the genocide convention through its military operations in Gaza. Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Spain and Palestinian officials have sought to join the case. The court’s decision on their requests is still pending. If admitted to the case, the countries would be able to make written submissions and speak at public hearings.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, accused his country of genocide, called for it to be punished in international courts, and criticized Western nations for backing Israel.

Israel has strongly rejected accusations of genocide and has argued that the war in Gaza is a legitimate defensive action against Hamas militants for their Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.

Preliminary hearings have already been held in the genocide case against Israel, but the court is expected to take years to reach a final decision.

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Associated Press journalist Suzan Fraser contributed.

TOKYO — United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will skip this year’s atomic bombing memorial service in Nagasaki because Israel was not invited, the embassy said Wednesday.

Emanuel will not attend the event because it was “politicized” by Nagasaki’s decision not to invite Israel, the embassy said. He will instead honor the victims of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on Aug. 9, 1945, at a ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Some 70,000 people were killed, and Japan surrendered soon after on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki indicated in July his reluctance to invite Israel, and announced last week that it was not invited, noting concern for “possible unforeseen situations.” Nagasaki hoped to conduct the ceremony “in a peaceful and solemn atmosphere,” he said.

In contrast, Hiroshima invited the Israeli ambassador to Japan to Tuesday’s ceremony, among 50,000 attendants that also included Emanuel and other envoys, though Palestinian representatives were not invited. The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing 140,000 people and destroying the city.

CAIRO — Yemen’s Houthis say a United States-led coalition carried out two airstrikes late Tuesday in territory controlled by the Iran-backed rebels.

The region is bracing for a potential counterattack by Iran and its allies following the killing of top militants in Beirut and Tehran, in strikes attributed to Israel.

The Houthis’ military media office said the strikes occurred in the Taiz province without providing further detail. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.

The Houthis have launched several long-range missile and drone attacks targeting Israel since the start of the war in Gaza and have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians. A U.S.-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the rebels in Yemen in January.

Israel has intercepted nearly all the projectiles fired from Yemen, but a rare direct hit on Tel Aviv in July killed one person and wounded 10. Israel responded with airstrikes on Yemen that the Houthi-run Health Ministry said killed six people and wounded more than 80.

The Houthis paused their attacks for around two weeks but launched a missile at a container ship over the weekend.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders Wednesday for an area in northern Gaza that was heavily bombed at the start of the war some 10 months ago.

The military said it would respond to a Hamas rocket attack from the Beit Hanoun area the day before and urged residents to relocate to Gaza City, large areas of which have been destroyed.

Beit Hanoun, which is close to the border, was one of the first targets of the massive bombardment and ground invasion launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas where past air and ground operations caused widespread destruction, as militants have regrouped. The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the narrow coastal strip since the start of the war — often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are sheltering in crowded tent camps.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack who is becoming Hamas’ new political leader, has the power to ensure that a cease-fire deal is reached.

Sinwar “has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to concluding the cease-fire, and so I think this (today’s announcement) only underscores the fact that it’s really on him to decide whether to move forward with a cease-fire that manifestly will help so many Palestinians in desperate need, women, children, men who are caught in a crossfire,” Blinken said. “It really is on him.”