Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wounded after clashing with Israeli troops in southern Gaza on October 16. Click to see full-size image (Screengrab/The Israeli Defense Forces)
Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of the Hamas Movement, was killed while fighting the invading Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, chief of the group’s branch in the enclave, confirmed in a televised address on October 18.
“Sinwar ascended [to heaven] advancing and not retreating, engaging in the frontlines, moving between combat positions,” the official said.
Hayya, who is based in Qatar, mourned the “martyrdom” of Sinwar and said that his death would boost the group’s determination to fight Israel until the establishment of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
“The death of our leader Sinwar and those [killed] before him will only increase the strength and resolve of our group,” he said.
“We continue on the path of Hamas and the spirit of the Al-Aqsa Flood,” he added, referring to the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel on October 7 of last year. “Our banner will not fall but will remain raised high.”
Israeli captives held in Gaza will not return without a ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal and the release of Palestinian prisoners, Hayya stressed.
Israel’s government and military both confirmed on October 17 that Sinwar was killed in a clash with a patrol in the southern Gaza city of Rafah a day earlier.
Sinwar was armed when he was killed. An Israeli soldier was reportedly seriously wounded by a hand grenade that was thrown by him. The Israeli military released drone footage showing the leader severely wounded after the clash and the tank shelling that killed him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the killing of the Hamas leader was not the end of his war on Gaza, and that his military would continue fighting until Israeli captives were returned.
“Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed,” Netanyahu said in a video address on October 17.
The death of Sinwar was welcomed by Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza. He joined Hamas when Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founded the group around the time the first Palestinian intifada began in 1987. The following year, he set up the group’s internal security apparatus.
He was serving four life terms for the alleged killing of two Israeli soldiers, as well as four Palestinians he suspected of cooperating with Israel, when he became the most senior of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.
Sinwar served as Hamas leader inside Gaza starting from 2017. He was seen by Israel as the mastermind behind the October 7 attack, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and more than 200 others taken captive.
While his death was a heavy loss for Hamas, it will not likely lead to any fundamental change in the policies of the group, especially when it comes to resisting Israeli occupation.
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