Beirut (AP): The Palestinian group Hamas said on Tuesday it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza as its new leader.

Sinwar is at the top of Israel's kill list as it seeks to destroy Hamas and its leadership after the October 7 attack.

Hamas said in a statement it named Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau to replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran last week in a presumed Israeli strike. Also last week, Israel said it had confirmed the death of the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a July airstrike in Gaza. Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Unlike Haniyeh, who had lived in exile in Qatar for years, Sinwar has remained in Gaza. As Hamas' leader in the territory since 2017, he rarely appeared in public but kept an iron grip on Hamas' rule. Close to Deif and the armed wing, known as the Qassam Brigades, he worked to build up the group's military capabilities.

Sinwar has been in deep hiding since the October 7 attacks, while Israel unleashed its campaign in Gaza and the death toll among Palestinians, now near 40,000, rose.

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New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the time has come for the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act in its true spirit and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with the quota for women in place.

In a letter to the floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament, Modi also asked all members to come together in one voice to pass the amendments to the women's reservation law, officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

"After extensive deliberations, we have reached the conclusion that the time has now come to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in its true spirit across the country.

"It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with women's reservation in place," the Prime Minister said in his letter dated April 11.

The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened on April 16 to 18.

The Women's Reservation Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.

The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023.

However, the women's quota would have come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. This meant the reservation would not have become enforceable before 2034 if the present law remains as is.

To implement it from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, changes were needed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam; hence, the government is holding a special session to pass the amendments to the law.