The Al Jazeera network has aired unseen footage of Yahya Sinawer – the Palestinian hero who led Hamas to launch its 2023 offensive – three months after he was killed during an Israeli operation in Gaza. The footage shows Sinwar on the Gaza battlefield, directing military operations in the Rafah area. The Palestinian leader is dressed in a military vest, with a stick in his hand, and covered by a blanket. Outside, it is all ruins, what a visible illustration of the war.
✓ Al Jazeera releases exclusive footage of Yehya Sinwar on the battlefield pic.twitter.com/dnp32ojdwv
– War Monitors (@Warmonitors) January 24, 2025
Local media reported that a graffiti of the Hebrew word “North” is seen on the wall of a building where Sinawer briefly stayed – indicating that Israeli forces had raided the house before they could get there.
In another scene, Sinnawar is seen with another man in a polo shirt, and a map spread out in front of them.
The network reportedly played a sequence of the order that Sinawwar, then head of Hamas, had signed to launch the attack on October 7.
Who was Yahya Sinwar?
Sivers, who rose through the ranks of Hamas, was killed during an Israeli raid on October 18 last year after he was spotted pushing his luggage into a Gaza tunnel.
Israel accuses him of masterminding the October 7 attacks, the deadliest in their history, which sparked the Middle East conflict and brought a sharp divide between the West and other pro-Palestinian countries.
Footage released by Israel on October 18 showed a fragile Siver during his final moments. In his last-ditch effort to fight back, he was seen throwing an object at a drone filming the incident. Israel later dropped leaflets with Sinawwar’s image and a message that “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza”.
Watch: Drone footage of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s final moments released by Israel
The Middle East has been conflict-ridden since October 7, 2023, when Hamas operatives and their allies went on a rampage across the Gaza border into Israeli cities, killing at least 1,200 people and abducting another 250 civilians and soldiers. Did it. In response, Israel began pounding Gaza with airstrikes along with ground operations. Hamas claims that Israeli operations have caused more than 47,000 deaths in the Gaza Strip.
The latest footage of Sinawwar emerges as Israel and Hamas have shaken off violence for a brief period to swap prisoners and hostages as part of a cease-fire deal aimed at peace in the Middle East. To bring and end the year long struggle.
