Who Is Yahya Sinwar, The Alleged "Most Dangerous Man In The World"? (X image @ReignsNathaniel)
Yahya Sinwar is a novelist, a tenacious fighter who refuse to be toned down at any cost, and a zealous leader. For Israel, he is “devil incarnated”. He is a nightmare to the Israelis. The most wanted Hamas leader. And thus, by making him its chief, Hamas shouted out defiance in every possible language.
Yahya Sinwar is labelled as the “most dangerous man” in the world by the West. While Ismail Haniyeh – the former political chief of Hamas who was assassinated – was the soft-edged man who took moderate stances and was loved even by those who oppose Hamas, Sinwar is the sharpest and hardheaded leader of Gaza’s resistance movement.
Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar was born in 1962 in Khan Younis refugee camp. His parents were forced out from their home in Al-Majdal Asqalan by the Israeli settlers, which is now turned into Ashkelon by Israel. They were expelled during the 1948 Nakba (the catastrophe), when Israel was formed by forcefully taking up Palestinian homes.
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Sinwar is very adamant on his principles and stances. He hated traitors vehemently. The leader was accused of killing of four, who were involved in passing information to Israel. Reportedly, the allegations bought him the nickname “The Butcher of Khan Yunis”. There are no official confirmation about the killing.
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Sinwar became a noted figure among the Israelis for his prominence right from the beginning. He was first arrested in 1982, and was released after months. He was then arrested in 1985. During his time in prison, he met and became close with Sheikh Yasin, founder of Hamas.
In 1988, Hamas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. It is believed that Sinwar was one of the masterminds behind the abduction. He was also accused of killing four Palestinians, who were reported to be involved in leaking information to Israel. He was arrested in the same year, and was awarded four life imprisonment, which accounts to over 400 years in prison, of which he served 23 years. He was 26-year-old during the arrest.
While in prison, Sinwar rose to prominence within the prison for his leadership qualities. He was very disciplined in priosn. Hamas choose its leaders democratically. They vote and decide on who should take the helm. Sinwar collaborated with Hamas leaders outside the prison. He smuggled cell phones inside the prison to connect with leaders outside, and used visitors to convey messages.
He played key role in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. Shalit was captured by Hamas during a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006. Everything that has happened so far since October 7th, resembles everything that happened after Shalit was captured.
Hamas capture Israeli soldiers to release the Palestinians in Israeli prison. Sinwar once said during an interview, “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”, as quoted by media.
Sinwar transformed into a well-chiselled leader during his time in the prison. He mastered Hebrew language through an online program, and extensively studied Israeli news to comprehend the enemy’s adversary better. He even translated Hebrew autobiographies of former Shin Bet – Internal security service of Israel – chiefs into Arabic, sharing them with fellow inmates to study counterterrorism tactics. “They wanted prison to be a grave for us, a mill to grind our will, determination and bodies. But, thank God, with our belief in our cause we turned the prison into sanctuaries of worship and academies for study”, media quoted Sinwar as saying.
Also Read: Opinion: Hamas And The Politics Of Hostage Exchange
Even in prison, Hamas had a leader. Committees handle day-to-day decisions and punishments, while an elected “emir” and a high council oversee operations for limited terms. Sinwar alternated as emir with Rawhi Mushtaha, a confidant, during his imprisonment, serving as emir in 2004.
Despite the ruthless character attributed to him by Israel, Sinwar is know for his humble behaviour. Even while serving as emir, he shared cooking duties and other chores with junior inmates, and made knafeh, the Arabian dessert, for fellow prisoners.
While searching his cell, Israeli prison guards confiscated a handwritten novel he completed at the end of 2004. The book, titled “The Thorn and the Carnation,” mirrored his life and the Palestinian resistance. The story revolves around Ahmed, a devout Gazan boy, navigating life under Israeli occupation during the 1967 war. At least one copy was smuggled out, and a typed PDF was found in an online library by The New York Times.
Journalist named Ali Hashem shared the names of book written by Sinwar, which include, “Hamas: Trial and Error”, “Glory,” which documents the work of the “Shabak” agency, many security oriented articles that laid the foundation for Hamas’ security experience.
Sinwar also wrote a novel titled “The Clove Thorn” (which narrates the experience of the Palestinian struggle after 1967 until the Intifada).
This is a thread about Yehya Sinwar, Hamas’ new political leader. The picture is from his teens when he was a student at the Islamic University.
Six decades before, in 1962, Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southeastern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/TTS0VQzrgn
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) August 7, 2024
Sinwar was released in 2011, as part of prison swap, in which more than 1000 Palestinians in Israeli prison was released in exchange for the release of Shalit. Sinwar was among the high-profile leaders that was released. There still remained some, and Sinwar vowed to have them all release.
During the negotiation talks of Shalit, Sinwar was extremely stubborn that all of the Palestinian prisoners should be released, to the point he reached a rift between other Hamas leaders. Sinwar was considered to be the most senior and prominent among those released.
After his release, he rose in ranks at dramatic pace. He met with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Qassem Soleimani in 2012. In 2013, he was elected as the member of Hamas politburo in Gaza.
After his 2017 election as the group’s leader in Gaza, he cultivated closer cooperation between Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. He focused on building ties in the region. Sinwar restored relationship with Egypt’s leadership, and connected with Iran after its disagreement over Syrian civil war.
Sinwar succeeded Haniyeh, by taking over Gaza rule. The coastal enclave went as well as it can under the choke-hold blockade. Some even argue that Gaza was better governed than the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, in terms of everything from water to sewage and electricity to security and order, as well as education and healthcare, said Al Jazeera’s Marwan Bishara.
He is at the top of Israel’s red list. As a response to Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel, which Israel claim is architected by Sinwar, Tel Aviv labelled him as the “dead man walking”. Israel failed to locate Sinwar from Gaza, for the past 10 months of war.
Now, the “dead man” will vanguard the movement through uncertain times across the region from unknown location in the coastal enclave of Gaza. It is still unclear that how Sinwar will be able to communicate with his fellow Hamas operatives, and run the day-today political operations of Hamas, and at the same time, oversee the ceasefire negotiations, which has been so far done by Haniyeh.
Hamas made their stance crystal clear by electing Sinwar, the alleged “most dangerous man” in the world as its political leader.
