Yahya Al-Sinwar’s name rose to prominence with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which led to the deaths of 1,200 people. The Hebrew state considers this “living dead man” to be the architect of the attack, while the Israeli army spokesman described him as the “face of evil” that his forces are pursuing today in Gaza, but he has not been seen since the attack. Who is Sinwar?
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The name Yahya Al-Sinwar has changed since the attack Hamas on Israel, especially recently, has been among the major headlines of the media around the world. Tel Aviv accuses the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip of being the architect of the unprecedented attack on the Hebrew state, which left 1,200 people dead, while the movement’s fighters took 240 people hostage with them.
Al-Sinwar, 61 years old, emerged from the shadow of Israeli detention centers to the leadership positions of Hamas until he became “the living dead man” for Israel. Sinwar spent 23 years in Israeli prisons, then assumed security responsibilities within Hamas.
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Laila Surat from the Arab Center for Research and Political Studies in Paris says that the planning of the attack took perhaps a year or two, adding, “This is his strategy. He was the one who planned it,” before he “surprised everyone” and tried to “change the balance of power on the ground.” Israel responded to the attack with violent bombing of the Gaza Strip, during which approximately 15,000 people were killed, most of them civilians.
For Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht, Sinwar represents “the face of evil.” He added that he was a “living dead man.” Sinwar has not appeared in public since the day of the attack.
In 2017, after he was elected leader of the movement in the Gaza Strip, the French news agency met with Abu Abdullah, who is affiliated with Hamas and who spent a few years with Sinwar in Israeli detention centers. He said that Sinwar is known for his secrecy, especially since he is a security man “par excellence.”
He added that Sinwar “makes his decisions completely calmly, but he is difficult when it comes to defending Hamas’ interests.”
He strangled a collaborator with Israel with a keffiyeh
Yahya Al-Sinwar was born in the Khan Yunis Palestinian refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip and joined the Hamas movement, which was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin before the first Palestinian intifada in 1987.
Sinwar established the movement’s security apparatus in 1988, which is responsible for prosecuting, punishing, and sometimes executing those accused of spying for Israel.
According to the report of the investigation he underwent in Israel and published in Hebrew media, Sinwar admitted to strangling a collaborator with Israel to death with a keffiyeh in a cemetery in Khan Yunis.
Al-Sinwar graduated from the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip and learned the Hebrew language, which he speaks at a good level during the 23 years he spent in Israeli prisons. He is said to have a deep understanding of Israeli culture and society.
Sinwar was sentenced to four life sentences for killing two Israeli soldiers. He was among 1,027 Palestinians released in a deal concluded in 2011 in exchange for the release of French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Later, Sinwar became a prominent commander in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, before becoming the movement’s leader in the Gaza Strip.
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“Power for negotiations”
Sinwar dreams of a single Palestinian state that combines the Gaza Strip and the West Bank occupied by Israel, along with East Jerusalem since 1967.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States of America (a research center), Sinwar pledged to punish anyone who obstructs reconciliation with the Fatah movement.
In 2006, the two movements fought a bloody conflict that led to the expulsion of the Fatah movement from the Gaza Strip and Hamas taking control of it. Despite a clear rapprochement in relations, reconciliation efforts between the two Palestinian movements have all failed. Surat says that Sinwar adopted a “radical path in military planning and a pragmatic path in politics.” She adds, “He does not call for force for the sake of force, but for the sake of negotiations” with Israel.
In 2015, Sinwar’s name was added to the United States’ list of most wanted “international terrorists,” along with Muhammad al-Deif, the current commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the second mastermind of the October 7 attack, according to Israel.
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Security sources outside Gaza say that Al-Sanwar and Al-Deif are in the network of tunnels that Hamas built under the Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant pledged earlier this month to “find and eliminate Sinwar,” urging the residents of the Gaza Strip to hand him over. “If you reach it before us, it will shorten the duration of the war,” Gallant added.
Violent battles continue Thursday in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and the Israeli army, which took control of Khan Yunis, where it is pursuing Yahya Al-Sinwar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israeli forces were “surrounding Sinwar’s house” in this city. For his part, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “Sinwar is hiding underground.”
France 24/AFP
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2023-12-07 12:10:45
