New Gaza head won’t be tweeting, terror group says

Hamas disavows fake account in name of Yahya Sinwar which tweeted threat to Netanyahu, fooled Arab media

By Dov Lieber 15 February 2017, 10:23 pm

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Dov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.

Then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (L) and newly freed Palestinian security prisoner Yahya Sinwar wave as supporters celebrate the release of 1,027 security prisoners in a swap for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on October 21, 2011. (AFP/Said Khatib)

The Hamas terror group announced Wednesday that its new leader in Gaza, convicted murderer Yahya Sinwar, won’t be tweeting, because he does not have any social media accounts.

“We affirm that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar does not have any accounts on Twitter or any other social media sites,” Hamas said in a statement posted on its official website.

The statement was apparently prompted by a fake twitter account in Sinwar’s name.

“We warn against circulating anything that is published through these fraudulent accounts,” the statement said.

Since his election victory was announced on Monday, one Twitter account claiming to be Sinwar’s was opened and soon gained nearly 1,200 followers, including many journalists.

So far the account has only one tweet, which threatens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It reads “I’m not after a political post, but I will make Netanyahu cry over his.”

https://twitter.com/YehiaAlsenwar/status/831251637532504066

Hamas confirmed the Sinwar account was fake after the tweet was shared in Arabic media, which reported it as the first statement from the newly elected Hamas leader.

The tweet has been retweeted over 300 times and has almost 500 likes.

Hamas does have an official English Twitter account which conveyed messages from former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.