From Studying In Prison To Heading Hamas Oct 7 Attack: Who Was Yahya Sinwar

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency have jointly confirmed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. No official confirmation has been made by Hamas.

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 due to his involvement in subversive activities and subsequently placed under administrative detention for four months. Following his release, he was re-arrested just one 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. He was sentenced to 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.

He attempted to escape from prison twice, but both attempts were unsuccessful.

Sinwar used his time in prison for reading and writing, learning Hebrew and writing several books and translations in political, security, and literary fields.

He was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange for an Israeli soldier.

After his release, Sinwar was elected to Hamas’s political bureau during the movement’s internal elections in 2012, where he took charge of security matters. In 2013, he assumed leadership of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, coordinating efforts between the political bureau and the brigades’ leadership.

He was elected in 2017 as the head of the movement’s political bureau in Gaza, and in 2021, he was re-elected for a second four-year term during the movement’s internal elections.

Sinwar’s house has been bombed multiple times, and he is described as a cautious figure who rarely speaks publicly.

Sinwar was considered the chief architect of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

In August, Hamas announced that Sinwar was appointed as its leader following the assassination of former leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.