Israel is at this moment investigating circumstances that may have led to the possible death of Yahya Sinwar, who has not been seen in an extended period and is the Hamas leader in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Military Intelligence Directorate believes Sinwar has been killed in the recent barrage on Gaza. But religious evidence to embrace this theory cannot be availed to this date; the Shin Bet agency still suggests that he might still be alive.
The articles in the Haaretz report that the Israeli forces have attacked tunnels in places that were thought to have Sinwar, but there’s still no evidence of his elimination. The absence could be a strategic move by Sinwar to avoid being tracked and apprehended by security agents.
In addition to the now deceased Mohammed Deif, leader of the Qassam Brigades, Sinwar was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attacks, which were methodically plotted after an IDF raid on the Al Aqsa mosque in May 2021. Having been nicknamed Ismail ‘the reactor,’ Sinwar took over from Ismail Haniyeh, who was said to have been assassinated in Iran by a bomb brought into his guest house in Tehran.
Originally from the al-Shati refugee camp in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip, born in 1962, Sinwar is considered one of the most uncompromising leaders of Hamas. He started to involve himself in politics in early 1980 at the Islamic University in Gaza; he was arrested by the Israelis several times. After graduation, he formed a group of fighters that would later transform into the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing.
After 23 years in an Israeli prison, Sinwar was fluent in Hebrew and knew the Israeli political scene inside and out. He was released in 2011 to facilitate the prisoner swap for an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the killing of Sinwar would mean dealing a significant knock-on Hamas’s leadership, which could bring a definitive end to military operations in the Gaza Strip.
