Gaza war: Israel declares Hamas leader Sinwar dead

The leader of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, is dead, according to the Israeli government. “The mass murderer Jihia al-Sinwar, who is responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, has been killed by Israeli soldiers.” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz, according to his spokesman. The armed forces also confirmed Sinwar’s death on Wednesday in the southern Gaza Strip. Hamas initially did not comment.

The wiry, bearded man was considered the planner and mastermind of the brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Terrorists from Hamas and other organizations in the Gaza Strip killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 into the Gaza Strip. The worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust triggered the Gaza War, which subsequently led to the most recent escalation in the Middle East – most recently the Israeli military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran,” Katz said, according to his spokesman. Sinwar’s killing creates the possibility of freeing the hostages immediately and creating “a new reality” in the Gaza Strip without Hamas and Iranian influence.

Sinwar has been at the top of Israel’s hit list since the start of the Gaza war. Before him, Israel killed several top Hamas officials, including Mohammed Deif, the Islamist organization’s military commander. The assassination attempt on the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, in Tehran is also attributed to Israel. Sinwar, who until then had been the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, then took over the entire leadership of the organization.

What comes after Sinwar?

After the death of the Hamas leader, the question arises as to whether Hamas has been defeated. Observers don’t think that’s likely. Sinwar’s brother Mohammed plays an important role in Hamas’ military structure. It is unclear whether he succeeded Deif. He could follow in his brother’s footsteps. In addition, under the pressure of the powerful Israeli invasion, Hamas no longer fights in classic military formations, but as a guerrilla force that operates in small cells and in a decentralized manner.

The fate of around 100 hostages who are still in the hands of Hamas remains completely uncertain. Efforts to free them are likely to be even more difficult as long as it is not clear who is making the decisions at the top of Hamas. In addition, their captors could take revenge on them for Sinwar’s killing, as many of the hostage members fear.

But even a collapse of Hamas, which had ruled the Gaza Strip with an iron hand until the war broke out, would not necessarily clear the air. Since Israel is not seeking military administration of the coastal area and does not seem to have any concrete ideas for a Gaza without Hamas, there is a risk of a dangerous power vacuum. Chaos and anarchy could spread here.

A life marked by extreme violence

The 61-year-old Sinwar was part of the founding generation of Hamas. The Islamist organization was formed during the first Palestinian uprising, the Intifada, in the late 1980s in the fight against Israeli occupation. After the peace process began between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas carried out bloody suicide attacks in Israel for years in an attempt to torpedo it. Sinwar was also involved in setting up Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades.

Since 2017, Sinwar has been Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip. Since then, he has repeatedly tried to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which Israel tightened in 2006 and which Egypt has also supported over the years. Among other things, he relied on violent protests at the dividing fence.

He was born in 1962 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the south of the Gaza Strip. His family comes from the area of ​​the coastal city of Ashkelon, now on Israeli territory. Sinwar was convicted by Israel in 1988 of murdering four suspected collaborators and two Israeli soldiers. Because of his cruelty, even against his own people, he was also known as the “Butcher of Chan Yunis”. He spent more than two decades in Israeli custody and learned Hebrew during that time.

In 2011, Sinwar was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. After his release, Sinwar was initially responsible for liaising between the military and political wings of Hamas.