Israel has released a video that it says shows Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar carrying personal belongings into a tunnel in Gaza in the early hours of October 7 last year. It was hours before the attack that sparked the current conflict. The video came in the aftermath of Yahya Sinwar’s death during a gun battle in Rafah, where he had been holed up in a ruined building.
The videos show Sinwar, accompanied by his wife and children, ferrying goods such as a television, water, pillows, and mattresses into a tunnel leading from underneath the family’s home in Khan Younis. Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari referred to that compound as significant when he flashed images of an underground compound complete with toilets, showers, and a kitchen in a press briefing. Food, cash, and documents were also found at the site.
Reacting to the footage, Hamas claimed Sinwar had died heroically in battle and that Hagari’s statements were “blatant lies.” Drone footage earlier this week captured Sinwar critically injured, hurling an object at the drone. He was later found out to have been killed by a gunshot wound to the head, in which one of his fingers was also found severed in an autopsy.
Israel’s long-targeted Sinwar of the Israel Defense Forces had remained at large until now during a yearlong fighting with Hamas. Israeli forces tracked him down after finding a tissue he used to wipe his nose containing his DNA, said Hagari.
Where on October 7, the casualties were around 1,200, and 235 hostages were taken in Israel; this military action of Israel in Gaza has gained over 40,000 casualties in the region so far.
Sinwar’s death now raises many questions about who will lead Hamas next, as the organization is engaged in relentless warfare that has also overspilled into Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed at least 2,350, according to the Lebanese health ministry, and more than 1.2 million displaced. Retaliatory Hezbollah attacks have killed 50 Israeli soldiers and civilians.
