Hamas leader dies… A new phase in the Middle East war
Encountering these trainees on patrol… He took refuge in a building and died from shelling.
U.S. pressures Harris to negotiate ceasefire with Hamas… Both Netanyahu and Hamas “continue the war”
Yahya Shinwar, the top leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, released by the Israeli military on the 17th (local time) (inside the dotted line). He was killed by shelling a day ago in a residential building in Tel Sultan, southern Gaza Strip. Just before his death, he desperately resisted by throwing wooden sticks to chase away the Israeli military drone that was trying to detect him. Photo source ‘X’”/>
“Sinwar was discovered by 19-year-old Israeli soldiers on patrol.”
The United States reported that 19-year-old soldiers from the 828 Bislach Brigade, the Israeli army’s infantry squad leader training organization, confronted Yahya Shinwar, the top leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, in Tel Sultan near Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, on the 16th (local time) and led to his elimination. Political media Axios reported on the 17th.
On October 7 last year, the day the war between Hamas and Israel broke out, Sinwar led an operation that killed about 1,200 Israeli civilians and took about 250 hostage. Israel has declared Sinwar as a ‘zero priority for elimination’ and has placed a bounty of $400,000 (approximately 548 million won). But he eluded this pursuit for over a year.
In particular, Sinwar was discovered during a routine patrol by young trainees, not veteran soldiers or intelligence agents. Initially, there were many speculations that he was hiding deep in underground tunnels throughout the Gaza Strip and that he was even accompanying Israeli hostages to use as a ‘human shield’. However, he met his end alone in the Tel Sultan residential area and without any hostages with him.
Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas expressed their intention to continue the war, saying, “Sinwar’s death and the end of the war are separate.” Prime Minister Netanyahu said on the 17th, “The war is not over yet,” and shouted that Hamas must quickly release the hostages. Then, on the 18th, Hamas official Khalil al-Haiya countered to the Associated Press, saying, “If there is no withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, there will be no repatriation of hostages.”
● Remove it without knowing it was Sinwar and then confirm its identity.
Eliminating Sinwar was not a carefully prepared operation but was more of a coincidence. On the 16th, soldiers of the 828 Brigade encountered three militants while patrolling the Tel Sultan area. One of the three people took refuge in a two-story residential building, and the Israeli military confirmed with an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) that he was alive inside the building.
At this time, the battalion commander of the 828th Brigade, who received the report from the teenage trainees, gave an order to shell the building and was able to eliminate him with tank shells. This person is Shinwar.
According to the BBC, the Israeli military did not initially know that the person they had eliminated was Shinwar. In the process of checking the corpse’s face, it was recognized that the unique spots near the eyes and crooked teeth were strikingly similar to Shinwar.
Israel, concerned that Hamas members may have planted a ‘booby trap’ explosive on Sinwar’s body, cut off only part of the body’s finger that contained fingerprints and conducted basic identification. Afterwards, final confirmation was made through forensic examination of teeth.
Sinwar was imprisoned in an Israeli prison for 22 years from 1989 to 2011 on charges of murdering two Israeli soldiers and plotting the murder of four Palestinians who collaborated with Israel. Through this, Israel, which had already secured his DNA, easily completed identification.
● Desperate resistance by throwing sticks at detection drones
On the 17th, the Israeli military also released a 20-second video of Shinwar’s final appearance. He covered his face with a bandana to avoid exposure and sat helplessly on a sofa covered in dust in the building that had been completely destroyed by shelling. The movement of his right arm, which seemed to be injured, also seemed uncomfortable. He threw wooden sticks lying in the rubble at the Israeli drone trying to detect him and struggled to the last to avoid being discovered.
Sinwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, which was then ruled by Egypt. He joined Hamas during the First Intifada (Palestinian people’s anti-Israel independence struggle) in 1987.
After the outbreak of war, Israel eliminated the first to third leaders and executives of Hamas one after another. In January of this year, an airstrike was carried out in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, eliminating Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau and third-ranking official. In July of the same year, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya, who ranked first in line, and Sinwar’s closest associate, Muhammad Deif, were also eliminated. Sinwar, who was second-in-command before Haniya’s death and later became first-in-command, also died on the 16th, effectively disintegrating the Hamas leadership.
● Harris pressures Netanyahu for a “quick end to the war”
With less than 20 days left before the U.S. presidential election on November 5, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying, “Now that we have eliminated Sinwar, we must quickly conclude a cease-fire agreement with Hamas.”
Candidate Harris was a core supporter of the Democratic Party in the past, but after the outbreak of war, she is worried about signs of an exodus of Muslim voters who are opposed to the pro-Israel policy of the Joe Biden administration. In particular, in approval rating surveys in states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, which have many Muslims, he was once ahead of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but has recently almost caught up.
Candidate Harris, who was visiting Wisconsin on the 17th, said, “The war must end so that the Palestinian people can realize dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”
According to the British Telegraph on the 16th, candidates Harris and Trump were tied with an approval rating of 47% each in Michigan, where more than 200,000 Muslims live. In a Wisconsin survey on the same day, Candidate Harris was only 1 percentage point ahead of Candidate Trump (47%) with 48%.
Reporter Choi Ji-seon aurinko@donga.com
Reporter Lee Ji-yoon asap@donga.com
Washington = Correspondent Moon Byeong-ki weappon@donga.com