DayofPal- Israel has reported that its forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during an operation in the southern Gaza Strip. On Thursday, the Israeli military announced that Sinwar was killed on Wednesday after soldiers “eliminated three fighters.”
Hamas confirmed today that leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in combat with Israeli forces in Gaza, stating he died defending Palestine until his last moments.
Yahya Sinwar was born in 1962 at the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza. His family was forcibly displaced from their home in Askhelon by Zionist militias during the Nakba in 1948, which resulted in the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians.
In 1982, he was first arrested by Israeli authorities for his involvement in anti-occupation activities. Three years later, he was arrested again and met Ahmed Yassin, who later founded Hamas. Yassin subsequently included Sinwar in his inner circle.
In 1988, Israeli forces arrested him once more, and he received four life sentences, totaling 426 years in prison. He was charged with participating in the capture and killing of two Israeli soldiers and four alleged Palestinian spies. This marked the beginning of a 23-year imprisonment in Israel.
While in captivity, he learned Hebrew and often read Israeli newspapers, deeply engaging with Israeli politics and culture. He stated that this helped him gain a better understanding of his adversary. Additionally, he wrote a novel titled The Thorn and the Carnation, which was inspired by his own experiences growing up in Gaza.
In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a deal that led to the release of 1,047 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been captured in 2006. Sinwar was among the most notable prisoners released as part of this agreement.
Upon his release, he quickly advanced within Hamas, and within a year, he was elected to its political bureau.
Sinwar played a significant role, both politically and militarily, during Hamas’s operations in the seven-week war with Israel in the summer of 2014. A few months after that conflict, the United States designated Sinwar as a “specially designated global terrorist.”
In 2018, he played a key role in organizing the “Great March of Return” peaceful protests, which called for an end to the Gaza siege and the right of return for refugees. This movement faced a brutal crackdown from Israeli forces, resulting in the deaths of 230 protesters.
He also led Operation Sword of Jerusalem, the name Hamas used for its response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza between May 6 and 21, 2021.
Most notably, he is believed to be the mastermind behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which refers to the Palestinian group’s attack on October 7, 2023.
In August, a week after the Israeli assassination of then-Hamas political chief Haniyeh, Sinwar was chosen as successor.
The decision highlighted that Hamas leaders in Gaza, under Sinwar’s leadership, had become increasingly significant within the organization, while those based in Doha and other locations had been somewhat sidelined.
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