Yahya Sinwar, an instrumental figure within Hamas, covertly exercised considerable influence from beneath the tunnels of Gaza. As per reports from Israeli defence on Thursday, Sinwar has been killed in Gaza.
Sinwar held the pivot role in orchestrating Hamas’s military tactics in Gaza; his influence was further amplified when he assumed the leadership of the group’s political office in August, following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the erstwhile political head.
Born in 1962 in a Gaza family that, like several hundred thousand Palestinian Arabs, had to abandon their home during the conflicts associated with Israel’s establishment, Sinwar’s personal history played a significant role in his joining Hamas in the 1980s.
Hamas’s founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, recruited Sinwar, appointing him as the head of an internal security team named Al Majd. This position, which also involved maintaining Islamic morality laws and dealing with Israeli occupiers, was what placed him into direct conflict with Israeli authorities.
Sinwar was incarcerated in 1988 for taking the lives of four Palestinians, who he alleged were apostates or colluded with Israel, as observed in Israeli court records. In Israel, his prison term spanned more than two decades, giving him proficiency in Hebrew and comprehension of Israeli culture and community.
Sinwar utilised his time within the prison’s confinements to educate himself via online university courses and to stay updated with Israeli news.
Sinwar characterised prison as a making ground in an interview with an Italian journalist. He elaborated, noting that prison allowed him to introspect on his innermost convictions and the extent he would go to uphold them.
Sinwar made multiple attempts at jailbreaks, including hollowing out his cell floor with the intention to tunnel beneath the prison and finally make his way out via the visitor centre. Inside the prison, he continued conspiring against Israel by coordinating with Hamas leaders outside. He successfully smuggled mobile phones into the prison, using legal representatives and visitors to carry messages out – messages that involved instructions on capturing Israeli soldiers with the hope of exchanging them for detained Palestinians.
His prison activities predicted his course of action in later years – notably the attack on Israel on 7th October.
Following Sinwar’s release from prison…
Following his release from an Israeli jail in 2011 due to a prisoner exchange, Sinwar famously expressed that capturing Israeli soldiers had become an effective strategy for liberating Palestinians held captive by Israel. The years of fruitless diplomacy had led to this conclusion.
Post-prison life saw Sinwar creating a family, marrying and fathering children. While he seldom discusses his family publicly, he once recounted that his son’s earliest words were ‘father’, ‘mother’, and ‘drone’.
Sinwar’s stringent views hinted he was reluctant to establish a ceasefire agreement with Israel, one that would conclude the conflict in Gaza and ensure the return of both living and captured individuals from Israel, who are currently detained in Gaza.
What does Sinwar’s death imply for ceasefire discussions?
Sinwar’s demise signals the possibility of bringing the hostility to a halt. Both the Israeli government and Sinwar had been intractable during the protracted discussions around a truce.
Sinwar’s death could potentially induce Hamas to yield to certain Israeli conditions – or afford the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, a figurative triumph that lays the groundwork for him to modify his negotiation position.
As the conflict raged on, ceasefire discussions have predominantly taken place in Egypt and Qatar. Nevertheless, Sinwar continued to participate significantly, even from his place of hiding in Gaza. Sinwar’s approval remained essential for Hamas’s negotiators to proffer any compromises, based on input from officials versed in the discussions.
Although Hamas authorities have previously maintained that Sinwar does not have ultimate decision-making power within the group, his leadership role in Gaza, and his domineering character, endowed him with a substantial influence on Hamas’s operations, as believed by both allies and adversaries.
“Sinwar’s consent is intrinsic to any decision making,” claimed Salah al-Din al-Awawdeh, a member of Hamas and political pundit who got to know Sinwar during their time in Israeli detention in the 1990s and 2000s. “Sinwar is no ordinary leader. He is a force to be reckoned with and a mastermind of events,” added al-Awawdeh. This piece was first published in the New York Times.