For more than a year he evaded Israel’s revenge. In the end, fate overtook him by chance. After the killing of Jihia al-Sinwar, Israel’s leadership sees Hamas at the end.
After a good year of war against Hamas, the Israeli military has killed the leader of the Islamist terrorist organization, Jihia al-Sinwar, in the Gaza Strip, according to official information. The 61-year-old, who is considered the mastermind of the massacre in Israel on October 7th last year, was Israel’s most wanted terrorist. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed his killing as a milestone. “This is the beginning of the day after Hamas,” he said in a video message addressed to the people of the Gaza Strip. They should now free themselves from the “oppressive rule” of Hamas. He assured that the extremists would never rule the Gaza Strip again in the future.
The wiry, bearded and at the same time brutal terrorist leader was considered the planner and mastermind of the bloody attack on Israel just over a year ago. Terrorists from Hamas and other organizations in the Gaza Strip killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 into the Gaza Strip – around 100 are still trapped there. 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.
According to media reports, Sinwar was killed in a somewhat accidental encounter with Israeli soldiers. The armed forces were on an operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, various Israeli media reported.
There was a confrontation with Sinwar and two other gunmen. It was only after he was killed that the soldiers noticed the resemblance of a corpse to the Hamas leader. The men who were killed had large amounts of cash and fake passports with them. Sinwar was wearing a vest with hand grenades.
Tooth samples and fingerprints prove identity
The Israeli army confirmed that soldiers from the 828th Brigade (Bislach) killed three terrorists in the south of the Gaza Strip. In recent weeks they have been increasingly deployed in the southern part of the coastal strip – according to intelligence information that high-ranking Hamas members could be hiding there.
Israeli police forensic scientists determined Sinwar’s identity using dental samples and fingerprints. A DNA analysis is still in progress, the authority said. Israel has the Hamas leader’s biometric data because he spent more than 20 years in Israeli prisons.
Sinwar has been at the top of Israel’s hit list since the start of the Gaza war. He may have hidden for long stretches in the hundreds of kilometers of tunnel network that Hamas had built throughout the Gaza Strip under his rule. He avoided communicating with technical devices such as cell phones and only distributed messages and instructions with the help of messengers. It was not initially clear what ultimately motivated him to emerge from the underground with two other fighters. Contrary to what was previously assumed, he was not surrounded by hostages.
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.
A life marked by violence
The 61-year-old Sinwar was part of the founding generation of Hamas and became its head in the Gaza Strip in 2017. As a young official in charge of internal security, he was notorious for his brutality in dealing with suspects and political opponents. Because of his cruelty, even against his own people, he was known as the “Butcher of Khan Yunis”, named after his place of origin. Since 2017, Sinwar has been Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip. In this role, he massively armed Hamas with Iranian help and prepared it for the terrorist attack in October 2023.
Sinwar was convicted by Israel in 1988 of murdering four suspected collaborators and two Israeli soldiers. He spent more than two decades in Israeli custody and learned Hebrew during that time. In 2011, he was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for the Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit.
New hope for hostages?
Relatives of the hostage called for the situation after Sinwar’s death to be taken advantage of and efforts to release those abducted to be massively increased. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his message to the hostage takers in Gaza: “Whoever lays down their weapons and returns the hostages – we will enable them to get out and survive.” At the same time, he threatened that anyone who harmed the hostages would “settle the score.”
There is now a chance of a “day after” in the Gaza Strip without Hamas in power, said US President Joe Biden. There is also a chance for a political solution that offers a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Sinwar was an obstacle to this that no longer exists. “But there is still a lot of work ahead of us,” warned Biden.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
