Reports have surfaced that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, previously thought to have been killed in a bombing, is alive. Sources indicate that Sinwar has been in contact with various individuals in recent days. According to a recent report by Reuters, Sinwar expressed that he has no regret for the October 7 attack on Israel.
The report states that Sinwar informed those who came to meet him that he is indeed alive. Four Palestinian officials and two Middle Eastern diplomats reportedly met with the Hamas leader. Yahya Sinwar’s stance remains that an independent Palestinian state can only be achieved through armed struggle.
Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, was previously believed to have been killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza on September 21, which claimed the lives of 22 people, including women and children. Since then, no information had surfaced about Sinwar, leading the world to assume that he had been killed. However, recent reports have dispelled these assumptions, confirming that Sinwar is alive.
Born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, then under Egyptian control, Sinwar became involved in anti-Israel activities while studying at the Islamic University of Gaza. He was arrested in 1982 and 1985 for his involvement in the resistance, and following the establishment of Hamas, Sinwar was arrested again in 1988 and sentenced to four life terms in prison. Sinwar spent 22 years in Israeli custody before being released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
After his release, Sinwar rapidly rose to become one of Hamas’s most powerful leaders. In 2012, he was elected head of Hamas’s political wing and coordinated the activities of its military arm, the Qassam Brigades. He played a key role in the 2014 conflict with Israel, which lasted seven weeks. In 2015, the U.S. designated him a “global terrorist.”
In 2017, Sinwar became the head of Hamas’s Gaza wing, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh. Despite regularly traveling across Gaza and delivering speeches, Sinwar went into hiding following the October 7 attack on Israel, for which he is believed to have been the mastermind. Reports suggest that Sinwar still holds the final authority within Hamas.
