Shadowy Hamas leader in Gaza is at top of Israel’s hit list after October’s deadly attack

By Bassem Mroue and Melanie Lidman The Associated Press

12 months ago

FILE - Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, greets his supporters upon his arrival at a meeting ... — FILE – Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, greets his supporters upon his arrival at a meeting in a hall on the sea side of Gaza City, on April 30, 2022. Since Hamas fighters carried out the deadliest attack on Israel in decades, Israeli officials have vowed to crush the Palestinian militant group and its enigmatic leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. But seven weeks into the war, 61-year-old Sinwar remains alive, in hiding and at the helm of Hamas’ fighters as they battle Israeli forces. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

The mastermind of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that triggered the worst Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed in generations is a secretive figure, feared on both sides of the battle lines.

In Gaza, no figure looms larger in determining the future trajectory of the war than Yehya Sinwar.

Israeli officials have vowed to kill him and crush the terrorist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007.

But seven weeks into the war, the 61-year-old Sinwar remains alive, in hiding and at the helm of Hamas’ fighters as they battle Israeli forces.

Sinwar is believed to have engineered the surprise Oct. 7 terrorist attack into southern Israel, with the even more shadowy Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing.

To Israelis, Sinwar is a nightmarish figure. The Israeli army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, called him a murderer “who proved to the whole world that Hamas is worse than ISIS,” referring to the Islamic State group.

Among fellow Palestinians, some respect Sinwar. But he is also deeply feared for his iron grip in Gaza, where public dissent is suppressed.

Arrested by Israel in the late 1980s, he was sentenced to four life terms for offenses that included the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers.

Michael Koubi, a former director of the investigations department at Israel’s Shin Bet security agency who interrogated Sinwar personally, recalled the confession that stood out to him the most: Sinwar recounted forcing a man to bury his own brother alive because he was suspected of working for Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released him in 2011 along with about 1,000 other prisoners in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid.

In 2017, he was elected head of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza. Sinwar worked with Hamas’ leader in exile, Ismail Haniyeh, to realign the group with Iran. He also focused on building Hamas’ military power.

For Hamas, surviving the war in any form would defy Israel and offer a victory of sorts. Sinwar himself may not survive.

“I’m sure we will eventually kill him,” Koubi said. “But to destroy the ideology he planted, that’s not so easy.”