Behind October 7 attack: What is know about Hamas leader Sinwar, potentially targeted by Israel
Photo: Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader (Getty Images)
The Israeli military may have eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. He is a notorious terrorist suspected of organizing the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
For more information about Sinwar and the potential elimination, see the material by RBC-Ukraine.
Contents:
Sinwar's life
Yahya Sinwar was born in 1963 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza. His parents were originally from Ashkelon (now a city in Israel) but became refugees after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
At just 19 years old, Sinwar was first arrested for Islamic activity. He faced a second arrest at the age of 22, during which he caught the attention of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
In 1987, at the age of 25, Sinwar founded the internal security organization Al-Majd within Hamas. The organization was responsible for the assassination of Palestinians who collaborated with Israel. According to eyewitness accounts, some of the murders may have been carried out by Sinwar himself.
In 1988, Israel arrested Sinwar on suspicion of 12 murders, sentencing him to four life terms. He spent nearly 22 years in Israeli prisons until 2011.
In 2011, Sinwar was released as part of a deal in which Israel freed 1,027 Palestinian and Arab-Israeli prisoners in exchange for one captive IDF soldier.
In 2017, Yahya Sinwar became the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to Tel Aviv, he may have been involved in planning the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, when militants captured and killed a significant number of both military personnel and civilians.
What is known about the possible elimination of Sinwar
Today, October 17, the Israel Defense Forces reported the elimination of three Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, one of whom is likely to be Yahya Sinwar.
"At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed,” the IDF emphasized.
Currently, there are no official details regarding the elimination of the militant. However, Arab media outlets, citing their sources, confirm the information about Sinwar's death.
Meanwhile, Sky News reports, referencing a senior Israeli official, that Israel is awaiting the results of a DNA analysis of the body, which could take several hours.
US President Joe Biden has already stated that he has been informed that Israel is verifying whether Sinwar has been killed.
Israel previously managed to eliminate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an airstrike.
