For months, Israeli forces have been trying to track down the leader of Hamas, who they believe masterminded the attack on the Jewish state on October 7 last year. Despite all efforts, Jahjá Sinvár eluded them. He was eventually found by a group of soldiers in training.
The Israeli military on Thursday released drone footage purportedly showing Hamas leader Yahya Sinvar shortly before his death. | Video: Reuters
A group of soldiers training to become unit commanders was conducting a routine patrol in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday when they encountered three gunmen. After the shooting, one of them fled to a nearby, partially demolished house. A drone monitoring the situation filmed a man with his face covered sitting in a chair and not moving much. The only significant movement he made was with his hand, which he threw at the drone with a stick.
That’s the end of the footage published by The Guardian. The Israelis then fired a rocket at the house.
Israel eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinvar. | Photo: Reuters
The man was wearing a bulletproof vest and had weapons and 40,000 shekels, roughly a quarter of a million crowns. He had an injured hand, and when the Israeli soldiers looked at his appearance, it reminded them of someone they didn’t expect on the spot – Hamas leader Yahya Sinvar. It was he who was supposed to be the mastermind of the attack on October 7, 2023, during which terrorists killed 1,200 people.
For the Israelis, Sinvár was the main target of the offensive in the Gaza Strip, which they launched in response to the October attack. They had been looking for him for months. But he always eluded the troops because he stopped using his phone and other communication devices so that they could not easily track him down. Contrary to expectations, he did not move even in the dense network of tunnels that Hamas had built.
“He tried to escape and our forces eliminated him,” said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Israel verified his identity using fingerprints, dental records and DNA. Hamas has not yet officially commented on the death of its leader.
The war is not over
News of his death sparked celebrations in the streets of Israel. Reactions in Gaza were mixed – while some could not believe the news, others expressed joy that the man for whom the Israelis had launched an offensive here was dead.
At the same time, the families of kidnapped Israelis captured by Hamas in last year’s attack called on the government to negotiate a deal with the terrorist movement and get their relatives home safely. Of the 101 captives, two-thirds could still be alive. US President Joe Biden made a similar statement. “Now is the time to move on. End the war and bring the prisoners home,” the New York Times quoted him as saying. The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, will also go to the country in the following days.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the invasion, which has claimed the lives of more than 42,000 people and deprived hundreds of thousands of people of certainties, such as a roof over their heads and food, does not end with the death of Sinvara.
“Today, evil suffered a heavy blow. But the mission before us is still not complete,” he said. The next task is to free the hostages. He added that if the people of Gaza “lay down their weapons and return our hostages, then we will allow them to leave and live.” However, if someone harms the abductees, they will pay for it with their own lives.
Who was Jahjá Sinvár
The 61-year-old Sinvár is described by the AP agency as stubborn with dictatorial tendencies. After spending years in an Israeli prison, he learned Hebrew and studied the culture of Israel in order to better understand the enemy. He was respected among Palestinians because he was able to stand up to Israel and remained in the country even after Israeli attacks drove out other leading figures in the Hamas terrorist group.
Sinvár instilled fear in people and earned the nickname butcher. Mainly because of how brutally he treated the Palestinians, whom he suspected of collaborating with the Jewish state.
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