Eliminated
He had been forced out of the tunnels he had been hiding in and was killed during a firefight with an IDF patrol.
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and the organiser of the October 7 atrocities in Israel, is dead.
He had been forced out of the tunnels he had been hiding in and was killed during a firefight with an IDF patrol.
The clash occurred when an IDF patrol unexpectedly encountered Sinwar while conducting operations in Rafah. In the ensuing gunfire, Sinwar was fatally shot in the head.
Footage from an unmanned aerial drone taken just before he was killed shows him slumped in a chair with one of his hands blown off, feebly throwing a stick at the drone.
Photos of his body with IDF soldiers standing over it went viral on social media around the world, as Israeli authorities worked to confirm his identity using DNA and dental records.
For many Israelis, his demise is seen as a critical blow to Hamas’s leadership and a step towards dismantling the group’s militant capabilities.
In Gaza and among Palestinians, reactions are more complex. While some view Sinwar’s death as a significant loss for Hamas, others see it as an act of martyrdom by “a hero” that could galvanise further resistance against Israel.
Known as “The Butcher of Khan Younis” because of his record of killing suspected collaborators with Israel, Sinwar survived brain cancer in 2008 after being treated by Israeli doctors while in prison for murdering two IDF soldiers.
He was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
comments