Refugee, activist to Hamas leader: Who was Yahya Sinwar, killed by Israel?

On Friday, Hamas officially confirmed the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in battle against Israeli forces earlier this week, in the Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah.

Israel had announced his death on Thursday, but the Palestinian group did not provide a comment a day later, which is common when one of its high-ranking officials is killed. 

"We mourn the great leader, the martyred brother, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim," Khalil al-Hayya said in a recorded video statement.

Labelled as "heroic" by many Palestinians for his quest for Palestinian liberation, his last moments alive showed him wearing military attire and draped in a keffiyeh as he was engaged in battle with Israeli forces in Tel al-Sultan.

In a last act of defiance, Sinwar can be seen attempting to hit the drone camera that captured the footage with a stick.

The clip has now cemented Sinwar’s status further a one of the main vanguards of the Palestinian cause.

Who was Yahya Sinwar?

Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp on 29 October in 1962, Sinwar’s family originated from Majdal Asqalan, known today as Ashkelon in Israel. His family were among the 750,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced or expelled from their homes by Zionist militias during the Nakba, or catastrophe, which occurred during the creation of Israel in 1948.

In the 1980s, Sinwar studied at Gaza’s Islamic University, having completed a degree in Arabic Studies. It was also at the university where he first took part in student activism.

He was first arrested in 1982,  as a teenager, on activism-related charges. In Israel’s Fara’a prison, he became acquainted with several Palestinian activists, including Salah Shehade, emboldening his dedication to the Palestinian cause.

Sinwar was arrested again in 1985, the same year he co-founded al-Majd, an organisation that worked to identify potential spies working for Israel, which became the first security apparatus for the newly-formed Hamas.

In 1988, Sinwar was re-arrested on charges of involvement in the kidnapping and deaths of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, for which he was given four life sentences.

He was released 23 years later as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal in 2011  with Israel.

While in prison, Sinwar acquired leadership skills, uniting Palestinian prisoners under a common cause. He also learned the Hebrew language and meticulously studied Israeli politics.  

Upon release, Sinwar quickly rose up the ranks of Hamas, and found himself appointed in a role akin to that of a defence minister. Soon after, he was in charge of Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Briagdes.

Role within Hamas

Sinwar played pivotal roles in several events in Gaza in recent years, including the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege protests in 2018, as well as the 2021 "Sword of Jerusalem" attack on Israel in response to Israeli violence in Sheikh Jarrah. He was also involved in Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip back in 2014, before he was labelled a Specifically Designated Terrorist (SDT) in 2015 by the US.

Before his death, Sinwar was widely regarded as the "mastermind" behind Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, which triggered Tel Aviv’s ruthless military onslaught on the Palestinian territory that remains ongoing today.

Sinwar was appointed as the chief of Hamas’ political bureau following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in airstrike in the Iranian capital of Tehran in July this year.

Sinwar simultaneously held the position of the Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip since 2017, also taking over from Haniyeh.

An elusive figure who was rarely seen in public amid the Gaza war, he was regarded as the most popular Hamas figure among Palestinians and lauded for his courage, Lamis Andoni, who led the launch of The New Arab as editor-in-chief, said.

Sinwar last gave an interview in 2021, with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, his first - and last - with an English-language media. "Israel - which possesses a complete arsenal of weaponry, state-of-the-art equipment and aircrafts - intentionally kills our children and women, and they do that on purpose. You can't compare that too those who resist and defend themselves with weapons that are simple," he said.