image source, EPA
- Author, Jeremy Bowen
- Role, BBC International Editor
The killing of Yahya Sinwar is Israel’s biggest victory so far in the war it is waging against Hamas in Gaza.
His death is a major blow to Hamas, the organization he turned into a fighting force that inflicted the largest defeat on the State of Israel in its history.
Al-Sanwar was not killed in a planned operation by special forces, but rather through a coincidence that brought him together with Israeli forces in Rafah, south of Gaza.
A photo taken at the scene shows Al-Sanwar, dressed in combat gear, lying dead in the rubble of a building hit by a tank shell.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, praised the soldiers and made it clear that no matter how great the victory was, it did not mean the end of the war.
Netanyahu added, “Today we made clear once again what happens to those who harm us. Today we showed the world once again the victory of good over evil, but the war is not over yet. It is difficult, and we are paying dear prices.”
Netanyahu said, “There are still great challenges ahead of us. We need endurance, unity, courage, and steadfastness. We will fight together, and with God’s help, we will prevail together.”
Netanyahu and the overwhelming majority of Israelis who support the war in Gaza needed victory.
image source, Reuters
The Prime Minister repeated his war goals several times: “to destroy Hamas as a military and political force and to bring the hostages home.” Neither goal was achieved, despite a year of war that killed at least 42,000 Palestinians and left large parts of the Gaza Strip in ruins.
The remaining hostages are not free, and Hamas is fighting and sometimes causing deaths among the Israeli forces.
Killing Sinwar was the victory Israel wanted. But until Netanyahu can claim that the war’s other goals have been achieved, the war, he says, will continue.
Yahya Al-Sanwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip. He was five years old when Israel captured the Strip from Egypt in the 1967 Middle East War.
His family was among more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes by Israeli forces in the 1948 war, in which Israel won and declared its independence.
His family comes from the city now known as Ashkelon, which is located near the northern border of the Gaza Strip.
In his twenties, he was convicted by Israel of killing four Palestinian informants. During his 22 years in prison, he learned Hebrew, studied his enemy, and thought he had figured out how to fight them. This also means that Israel has his dental records and a sample of his DNA, enabling it to determine whether the body is his or not.
Sinwar was released among more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in a 2011 exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
On October 7, 2023, in a series of carefully planned attacks, Sinwar and his men inflicted Israel’s worst ever defeat, a collective shock that is still deeply felt.
The killing of about 1,200 Israelis, the taking of hostages, and the celebrations of their enemies brought back to the minds of many Israelis the Holocaust.
Sinwar’s experience in the prisoner exchange must have convinced him of the value and power of hostage-taking.
In Tel Aviv, the families of the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza – half of whom Israel says may already be dead – gathered in the square where they had gathered a year ago, urging the Israeli government to launch new negotiations to return their children to their homes.
Einav Zangawker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangawker, appealed to the Prime Minister, saying: “Netanyahu, do not bury the hostages. Now go out to the mediators and the public and present a new Israeli initiative. For Matan and the rest of the hostages in the tunnels, time has run out. You have pictures of victory. Now bring a deal!”
She added: “If Netanyahu does not take advantage of this moment and does not rise up now to present a new Israeli initiative – even at the expense of ending the war – this means that he has decided to abandon the hostages in an attempt to prolong the war and strengthen his rule. We will not surrender until everyone returns.”
image source, Getty Images
Many Israelis believe Netanyahu wants to prolong the war in Gaza to postpone the day of reckoning for his role in the security failures that allowed Sinwar and his men to storm Israel, and to postpone perhaps indefinitely the resumption of his trial on serious corruption charges.
Netanyahu denies these accusations, insisting that only what he calls a “complete victory” in Gaza over Hamas will restore Israeli security.
Like other news organizations, Israel does not allow the BBC into Gaza except on rare trips under military supervision.
In devastated Khan Yunis, Sinwar’s hometown, Palestinians interviewed for the BBC by trusted local independent journalists said the war would continue.
Dr. Ramadan Fares said: “This war does not depend on Sinwar, Haniyeh, or Meshal, nor on any leader or official. It is a war of extermination against the Palestinian people, as we all know and understand. The issue is much bigger than Sinwar or anyone else.”
Adnan Ashour said some people were sad, others were indifferent about Sinwar.
Ashour added: “They are not only after us. They want the entire Middle East. They are fighting in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen… This is a war between us and the Jews since 1919, that is, for more than 100 years.”
He was asked whether Sinwar’s death would affect Hamas.
“I hope not, God willing. Let me explain: Hamas is not just Sinwar…it is a people’s issue.”
The war continues in Gaza. 25 Palestinians were killed in a raid on northern Gaza, which Israel said hit a Hamas command center, with doctors at the local hospital confirming that dozens of the wounded they treated were civilians.
Aid drops resumed by parachute after the Americans said Israel should allow more food and relief supplies in.
Every Hamas leader since the 1990s has been killed by Israel, but there has always been a successor. While Israel celebrates Sinwar’s killing, Hamas still has its hostages and is still fighting.