Sitting in an armchair inside a building almost ruined by Israeli attacks in southern Gaza and with a stick as your only defense. This is how it appears Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in Gaza and mastermind of the October 7 attacks, a few minutes before being assassinated during a military operation.
In a 48-second video released by the Defense Forces from Israel and recorded by a drone, Sinwar is seen at the back of a room with face covered, covered in dust, sitting among the rubble and visibly seriously injured. Indeed, one of his arms has a deeply bleeding wound which he himself tried to treat with a tourniquet.
Apparently, an Israeli drone is heading towards him and the leader of Hamas in Gaza throws a stick at him in response. At that time, Israel, he had no confirmation that it was Yahya Sinwar.
Unpublished material from Yahya Sinwar’s last moments: pic.twitter.com/FSKvt8C6Yx
– IDE (@FDIonline) October 17, 2024
“We identified him as a terrorist inside a building, we fired into the building and then we went to get it. We found him with a vest, a gun and 40,000 shekels (Israeli currency),” the Israeli army spokesperson reported. Daniel Hagari.
“Sinwar was hiding in an area that our forces had surrounded for a long time. We didn’t know it was therebut we continue to act with determination. Sinwar fled towards one of the buildings. “Our forces used a drone to inspect the area, as you can see in the images,” he added.
Who is Yahya Sinwar?
Sinwar, 62, has become one of Israel’s main military targets over the past year, particularly after he became head of the organization last August. He then replaced Ismail Haniye, who was killed in late July during an Israeli action in Tehran that ultimately led to a drone and missile attack by Iran.
Sinwar’s whereabouts are a constant source of speculation, given that had not appeared in public since the attacks from over a year ago.
Last February, the Israeli army released video from a surveillance camera located in a tunnel in the Bani Suheila area of Khan Yunis, in which it allegedly identified Sinwar. fleeing with his family.
Considered one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing, Sinwar remained imprisoned in Israel from 1989 to 2011, when he was released in an agreed exchange to secure the surrender of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Netanyahu: “This is the beginning of the end”
Following the death of Yahya Sinwar, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, made it clear that “this is not the end of the war in Gaza” but “the beginning of the end. »
“Yayha Sinwar is dead. He was killed in Rafah by soldiers of the Israeli army,” underlined the Prime Minister, who sent a message to Gazans. “This war can end tomorrow if Hamas lays down its arms and return our hostages,” he said.
To date, Hamas has, according to the Prime Minister, 101 hostages in Gaza from 23 countries and Israel “will do everything possible to repatriate them home”.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to recall that the leader of Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah, and his deputy were also assassinated.Hashem Sadi al Din. They are joined by the head of the Hamas political bureau since 2017, Ismail Haniyeh, and the leader of the Al Qasam Brigades (Hasan’s armed wing) Mohamed Deif, among others.
“The reign of terror that the Iranian regime has imposed on its territory as well as in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen will also end,” Netanyahu added.
