Ramallah [Palestine], October 19: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the deadly attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, died on October 16 in a gun battle with Israeli forces, and his death was announced on October 17.
A video of Sinwar's final minutes, showing him masked and wounded in a shell-damaged apartment, still trying to throw a stick at a drone filming him, has inspired pride among Palestinians, according to Reuters.
"Die like a hero"
"He died a hero, attacking rather than running away, clutching his rifle and engaging the [Israeli] army right on the front line," Hamas wrote in a statement about Sinwar's death.
In the statement, Hamas also stressed that Mr. Sinwar's death would only strengthen the force, adding that they would not compromise on the conditions for reaching a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
"He died wearing a bulletproof vest, fighting with a rifle and grenades, and when he was wounded and bleeding, he fought with a stick. This is how heroes die," commented Adel Rajab, 60, a father of two in Gaza.
"I have watched the video 30 times since last night, there is no better way to sacrifice. I will make this video a daily duty for my sons and grandsons to watch in the future," added Ali, a 30-year-old taxi driver in Gaza.
The attack planned by Mr. Sinwar on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and 253 were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The subsequent Israeli retaliatory attack devastated Gaza, killing more than 42,000 Palestinians , with an unaccounted for 10,000 dead believed to lie under the rubble, according to Gaza health authorities.
Mr Sinwar's comments in previous speeches that he would rather die at the hands of Israel than from a heart attack or car accident have been shared many times online by Palestinians.
"The greatest gift the enemy and the occupying forces can give me is to assassinate me and I will become a martyr at their hands," Mr. Sinwar said.
Become a recruiting tool?
Some Palestinians now question whether Israel regrets releasing the video showing Sinwar's wishes coming true, creating a potential recruiting tool for an organization that Israel has vowed to destroy, according to Reuters.
"They say he is hiding inside the tunnels. They say he is keeping Israeli prisoners with him to save his life. Yesterday we saw him chasing Israeli soldiers in Rafah (a city in southern Gaza), where the occupation forces have been operating since May," said Rasha, a 42-year-old mother of four.
"This is how leaders go, with a rifle in their hands. I support Mr Sinwar as a leader and today I am proud of him as a martyr," she added.
A September poll showed that a majority of Gazans thought the October 7, 2023, attack was a mistake, and that a growing number of Palestinians found it difficult to accept Mr. Sinwar's willingness to launch a war that had caused them so much suffering.
Mr Rajab, who hailed Mr Sinwar's death as heroic, said he did not support the 7 October attack and believed Palestinians were not prepared for all-out war with Israel. But he stressed that the manner of Mr Sinwar's death "made me proud as a Palestinian".
In both Gaza and the West Bank, where Hamas also has significant support and where fighting between Israeli occupation forces and Palestinians has increased over the past year, people are wondering whether Mr. Sinwar's death will help hasten the end of the conflict.
In the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron, Ala'a Hashalmoon said killing Sinwar would not mean Hamas would have a more conciliatory leader. "What I can imagine is that whoever dies, there will be a more hard-line replacement," he said.
And in Ramallah, Murad Omar, 54, predicted little would change in Gaza. "The war will continue and it doesn't look like it will end soon," he said, according to Reuters.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper