Sinwar Revealed—What’s Next?
Hamas chairman Yahya Sinwar, presumed killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, has resurfaced. This week, he renewed contact with mediators in Qatar to arrange his safety, seeking immunity via a ceasefire-for-hostages deal. A senior Egyptian official stated, “Sinwar insists on guarantees for his safety and life,” Ynet reported in August. It is believed that Sinwar revealed his survival because Qatar threatened to confiscate or freeze Sinwar’s bank account and that it wouldn’t finance the post-war reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Sinwar seeks to expand the Israel-Hamas conflict into a true regional war, but he understands that he may not live much longer and is seeking to do what he can to survive.
Sinwar is the face of pure evil. Before he masterminded the massacre of 1,200 Israelis, he murdered many suspected collaborators with Israel. He then spent at least 22 years in prison in Israel, during which Israeli surgeons saved his life by removing his brain tumor. As one of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for one Israeli soldier in 2011, Sinwar wasted no time rising up Hamas’s ranks and orchestrating further terror against the Jewish state.
Blind, fanatical adherence to radical Islamic doctrine has spurred this serial killer to commit unspeakable crimes for many years. He has been crafty in hiding from the Israel Defense Forces, but justice is knocking on his door. He knows his time is likely short and must now decide between his insane desire to murder Israelis and his innate desire to survive. But now that he has revealed himself, it’s unlikely that he will remain safely hidden away. Israel has its sights squarely set on removing the threat he has long posed.
