Yahya Sinwar

WEEK15  YAHYA SINWAR TEE

 

 

YAHYA IBRAHIM HASSAN SINWAR WAS A PALESTINIAN MILITANT AND POLITICIAN WHO SERVED AS THE LEADER OF HAMAS IN THE GAZA STRIP FROM FEBRUARY 2017 AND AS CHAIRMAN OF THE HAMAS POLITICAL BUREAU FROM AUGUST 2024 UNTIL HIS DEATH.

SINWAR WAS BORN IN 1962 IN A REFUGEE CAMP IN KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP. HIS PARENTS WERE  FORCIBLY DISPLACED FROM MAJDAL ASQALAN (ASHKELON) DURING THE 1948 NAKBA. HE ATTENDED THE KHAN YOUNIS SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR BOYS AND LATER GRADUATED FROM THE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF GAZA WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN ARABIC STUDIES.

 

 

IN THE LATE 1980S, SINWAR HELPED FOUND HAMAS'S INTERNAL SECURITY APPARATUS, TASKED WITH IDENTIFYING AND ELIMINATING COLLABORATORS WITH ISRAEL. HE WAS IMPRISONED BY ISRAEL IN 1988, RECEIVING FOUR LIFE SENTENCES FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE KILLINGS OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS AND PALESTINIAN COLLABORATORS. DURING HIS INCARCERATION, HE MASTERED HEBREW AND DEEPENED HIS UNDERSTANDING OF ISRAELI SOCIETY. AFTER SERVING OVER TWO DECADES, SINWAR WAS RELEASED IN 2011 AS PART OF A PRISONER EXCHANGE DEAL.

FOLLOWING HIS RELEASE, SINWAR QUICKLY ASCENDED HAMAS'S RANKS, BECOMING THE LEADER OF THE ORGANIZATION IN GAZA IN FEBRUARY 2017. KNOWN FOR HIS HARDLINE STANCE, HE PRIORITIZED MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST ISRAEL AND STRENGTHENED TIES WITH IRAN. IN AUGUST 2024, SINWAR WAS APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE HAMAS POLITICAL BUREAU, SUCCEEDING ISMAIL HANIYEH.

 

 

ON OCTOBER 16, 2024, BETWEEN 2PM AND 3PM ON WEDNESDAY, A PATROL FROM THE BISLACH BRIGADE UNIT OF THE ISRAELI ARMY WAS CONDUCTING SEARCHES OF THE TAL AS-SULTAN NEIGHBOURHOOD IN RAFAH. WHEN THEY SAW A SMALL GROUP OF FIGHTERS MOVING BETWEEN BUILDINGS, ONE OF WHOM WAS LATER IDENTIFIED AS SINWAR.

USING DRONES TO HELP PINPOINT THE FIGHTERS’ LOCATIONS, THE PATROL EXCHANGED FIRE WITH THE GROUP, KILLING THREE FIGHTERS.ONE FIGHTER MOVED INTO A DAMAGED BUILDING, AND THE PATROL SENT A DRONE AFTER HIM. DEFIANT TO THE END, SINWAR, WHO WAS INJURED IN HIS ARM DUE TO A MISSILE STRIKE, WAS RESTING IN A DAMAGED ARMCHAIR, THREW A STICK AT THE DRONE THAT WAS SEARCHING THE BUILDING TO FIND THE LAST MASKED FIGHTER.

 

 

THE BUILDING WAS THEN SHELLED BY TANKS AND MISSILES, KILLING SINWAR.  SINWAR’S BODY WAS THEN TAKEN TO A LABORATORY IN ISRAEL WHERE POLICE CONFIRMED A MATCH WITH HIS DENTAL AND FINGERPRINT RECORDS, TAKEN DURING HIS PREVIOUS IMPRISONMENT. 

FOR A HUGE PART OF THE WORLD, YAHYA SINWAR DIED LIKE A HERO, ON THE BATTLEFIELD, HURLING GRENADES AT IDF SOLDIERS. SINWAR’S OWN WORDS IN PREVIOUS SPEECHES, SAYING HE WOULD RATHER DIE AT ISRAEL’S HANDS THAN FROM A HEART ATTACK OR CAR ACCIDENT, HAVE BEEN REPEATEDLY SHARED BY PALESTINIANS ONLINE.

“THE BEST GIFT THE ENEMY AND THE OCCUPATION CAN OFFER ME IS TO ASSASSINATE ME AND THAT I GO AS A MARTYR AT THEIR HANDS,” HE HAD SAID