Hamas confirms Sinwar death, says no hostages to return until war ends

The Hamas has confirmed the killing of its leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, a day after Israel announced the news, according to an Al Jazeera report.

Quoting senior Hamas official Khalil Hayya, Al Jazeera has also reported that Israeli hostages in Gaza will not return "until the war on Gaza stops and Israeli forces withdraw from the besieged and bombarded territory".

On the other hand, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said “this is not the end of the war in Gaza”, despite the death of Sinwar, while Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has said it is entering a “new phase” in its battle against invading Israeli troops, claiming to have introduced "new weapons" over the past few days.

According to Al Jazeera, at least 42,438 people have been killed and 99,246 wounded in Israeli attacks in Gaza since 7 October 2023, the day Hamas launched attacks on Israel which killed at least 1,139 people, with over 200 taken captive.

In his statement as reported by Al Jazeera, Hayya added that Sinwar’s “martyrdom” and the leaders who preceded him “will only increase the strength and resilience of our movement”.

“The occupation prisoners will not return unless the aggression on Gaza stops, there is a complete withdrawal from [Gaza], and our prisoners are released from the prisons,” Hayya said. “Hamas will continue until the establishment of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian soil with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has also issued a statement mourning Sinwar, saying he “ascended facing the enemy, not retreating”.

“It is a source of pride for our movement to put leaders before soldiers, and for its leaders to lead the caravan of martyrs of our people,” Qassam Brigades said.

Sinwar was born in October 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. He studied in Khan Younis schools before being enrolled in the Islamic University of Gaza, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Arabic studies. In 2011, he married a woman from the Gaza Strip, and they have three children, Xinhua news agency reported.

He was first arrested in 1982 at the age of 20 and placed under administrative detention for four months. Following his release, he was re-arrested just a week later and spent six months in prison without trial.

In 1985, he faced another arrest and was sentenced to eight months in prison. In 1988, he was arrested again and tried on charges related to leading the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers, as well as the killing of four Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, and received four life sentences.

During his imprisonment, Sinwar led the supreme leadership committee of Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails, helping to manage confrontations with prison authorities during a series of hunger strikes. He was transferred between several prisons and unsuccessfully attempted to escape from prison twice. Sinwar used his time in prison to read and write and to learn Hebrew.

He was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange, and elected to Hamas' political bureau during the movement's internal elections in 2012. In 2013, he assumed leadership of the Qassam Brigades, coordinating efforts between the political bureau and brigades leadership. In 2017, he was elected head of the movement's political bureau in Gaza and in 2021, re-elected for a second four-year term.

Sinwar's was considered the chief architect of the Hamas attack on 7 October. In August, Hamas had announced that Sinwar was appointed its leader following the assassination of former leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

With IANS inputs