Hamas announced it has chosen Yahya Sinwar as its new head of the political bureau.

The U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group announced the decision in a statement on Tuesday roughly a week after its last political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran, Iran.

Sinwar, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the group’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack, is thought to be hiding in Hamas’s underground tunnel system significantly below the surface. He has evaded Israeli forces who have tried to kill him.

Unlike Sinwar, Haniyeh lived in exile in Qatar for years. He traveled to Tehran last week for the Iranian president’s inauguration.

Last week, the Israeli military confirmed that a strike it carried out in earlier July killed another Hamas senior leader, Mohammed Deif.

Haniyeh had been leading Hamas’s negotiating efforts for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Iran is preparing to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Haniyeh. Israel has not publicly taken credit for his killing.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The United States has surged military assets to the region to aid in Israel’s defense ahead of the attack and to defend U.S. forces already in the Middle East. Seven U.S. personnel were injured in a rocket attack on Monday at Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.

U.S. officials believe getting the elusive ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas across the finish line could reduce the tension in the Middle East.