Who is the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar killed by Israel?

The Israeli has has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, seen as the mastermind of the 7 October terror attack inside Israel.

Sinwar had evaded the Israeli military’s attempts to hunt him since its retaliatory war against Hamas inside Gaza began last year, he is said to have been killed in a chance encounter with Israeli troops, rather than a targeted strike.

Long considered a planner of Hamas’s military strategy in Gaza, all while hiding in the tunnels that criss-cross under the territory, Sinwar consolidated his power when he was made the top leader of Hamas in the summer. He was elevated to that post after the assassination of the group’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh in a suspected Israeli strike in Tehran in July.

Born and raised in Gaza

Sinwar was born in a refugee camp in Khan Younis in 1962. His family had fled its home, along with hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians during the wars that created the state of Israel. It is this history that is said to have played a major role in his decision to join Hamas in the 1980s.

Sinwar had been recruited by Hamas’s founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

The descent into violence

He was first arrested in 1982, preceding a string of arrests throughout the 80s. After his release from prison in 1985, Sinwar co-founded the Munazzamat al Jihad w’al-Dawa (Majd) along with Rawhi Mushtaha, an organisation aiming to weed out Palestinians who were collaborating with the Israeli government.

By 1987, this had become the “police” of Hamas, according to the Palestinian Information Centre. Sinwar, with a reputation for brutality and ruthlessness, earned the title of the “Butcher of Khan Younis”.

Decades in prison

In the late 1980s, Sinwar was arrested by Israel and admitted to killing 12 suspected collaborators, and sentenced to four life terms for offences which included killing two Israeli soldiers. He reportedly made multiple attempts to escape, including one where he tried to dig a hole in his cell floor in the hopes he could tunnel out.

He spent more than two decades in prison in Israel, where he learned Hebrew and developed an understanding of Israeli society. During his time in prison, Sinwar told an Italian journalist that prison is a crucible. “Prison builds you,” he said. He added that it gave him time to think about the price he was willing to pay for what he believed in.

He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2008, surviving after treatment by Israeli doctors, before his eventual release from prison in 2011 after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a deal, with 1,026 prisoners released in return for an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid.

Sinwar is believed to have said: "For the prisoner, capturing an Israeli soldier is the best news in the universe, because he knows that a glimmer of hope has been opened for him." After his release he married and had children.

Sinwar’s rise to power

Sinwar quickly rose up the Hamas leadership ranks after his return to Gaza. He was believed to be behind the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud Ishtewi in 2016 amid an internal power struggle.

After becoming the head of Hamas in Gaza in 2017, Sinwar worked with Ismail Haniyeh to align the militant group with Iran while boosting its military capabilities. He won a second term in 2021, before coming Hamas’ top leader after Haniyeh’s death.

In November, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said Sinwar was isolated in his bunker, adding that he was "cut off from his surroundings, his chain of command is weakening”.

Architect of 7 October attack

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said of his nation’s most wanted man: "Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by [Israeli soldiers soldiers". The killing represents a major boost to the Israeli military and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after a string of high-profile assassinations of prominent leaders of its enemies in recent months.

Sinwar, is thought to have engineered the attack alongside with Mohammed Deif. Deif was killed in an airstrike on Gaza in July, the same month Hamas’ political leader, Ismael Haniyeh was assassinated in a strike in Iran. The 7 October attack killed around 1,200 Israelis, while another 251 people were taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory war inside Gaza from land and air has killed 42,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza.

Israel’s Kan Radio reported that Sinwar had been killed “by chance”. The station also said the bodies were found with money and fake IDs.

Channel 12 reported that the incident in question took place in the southern city of Rafah, with troops spotting several fighters entering a building ordering a tank strike against it, which collapsed the structure. Graphic photos and video from the scene, broadcast on Israeli media, showed what appeared to be Sinwar’s body, with a head wound, dressed in a military-style vest, half buried in the rubble of a destroyed building.

The last known footage of Sinwar shows a stooped man walking through a tunnel beneath Gaza accompanied by his wife and children. The video was retrieved by Israeli soldiers during a raid on Gaza earlier this year but is thought to date to the days immediately after the 7 October attack.