Written by Michael Thervil
Photo by Associated Press
It was once stated that when one cuts off one head of a hydra another head resurfaces. This saying also reigns true when it comes to Hamas. Israel's failed notion of defeating Hamas is seen as nothing but failing war rhetoric that has done nothing but undermine the peace and stability of West Asia. As of yesterday, the Iranian back organization Hamas has appointed a new leader to fill the void of leadership within the Hamas organization due to the Israeli led assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. The new chosen leader of Hamas is 61-year-old Yahya Sinwar was born on October 29th, 1962, in Khan Younis (southern Gaza).
According to reports, Yahya Sinwar is a Hamas hardliner who was nicknamed the “Butcher of khan Younis” because he was considered by many to be the “Mastermind” behind the military attack on Israel last year on October 7th, 2024. Yahya Sinwar is a very elusive figure in Hamas and that's attributed to him being born and raised in Gaza. We are able to say this because of Israel's intelligence agency (Mossad) vast reach and control over the Gaza strip and Palestine in general. It's because of Israel's vast reach and control over Gaza is where Yahya Sinwar had to learn very quickly on how to be seen but remain unseen.
Another reason as to why Yahya Sinwar is so hard to capture by the Israelis is because he spent time in an Israeli prison in 1988 for murdering three Palestinians; he was released in 2011. According to sources, Yahya Sinwar killed four Palestinians because he discovered that these three Palestinian were collaborating with the Israelis against members of the Palestinian community. During Yahya Sinwar’s time being locked down in an Israeli prison, he learned to fluently speak and read Hebrew, and he studied not only the tactics of the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) and their counter-terrorist organizations. But he also extensively learned the culture, language, customs, and traditions of Israel. With Yahya Sinwar doing this, it played a vital role in helping him to acquire the skills to elude both capture and/or assassination by the Israelis.
But the motivation to join Hamas comes not from what he saw and experienced while imprisoned in 1988. Instead, his motivation stems from experiencing his family being forced out and away from their homes as a child in Gaza. This is what led Yahya Sinwar to join Hamas in 1988. When you fast forward to today, besides being one of, if not the sole Mastermind behind the October 7th, 2024 military action against Israel, Yahya Sinwar is that he played a key role in the negotiation of swapping hostages and prisoners between Hamas and Israel.
Currently Yahya Sinwar is wanted by the Israelis, and he is on their version of America's “most wanted” list. But all attempts by the Israelis to locate and outright assassination Yahya Sinwar has been proven a failure as it is said that only 3 people actually know the exact location as to where Yahya Sinwar is. And those three people will not only give their lives to keep that secret, but they are just as hard to locate as well.
What will be Yahya Sinwar's next move as he settles into his newly ascribed role as the leader of Hamas is anyone's guess. But there’s several things we do know about Yahya Sinwar because of his background in general; and that is that he is unapologetically a Hamas hardliner who has killed and spent time in prison – hence he is psychologically hardened. Secondly, Yahya Sinwar is a highly determined, disciplined, and resilient self-starter and go-getter, who is highly educated and motivated by his past negative experiences with Israel.
Moreover, we are predicting that he will not soften his position when it comes to resisting the Israeli occupation in both Palestine and Lebanon. It can also be predicted with a great level of certainty that he will “bust lead before he breaks bread” with Israel. Truth be told, Israel made Yahya Sinwar and so many others like him, that it can be said that any retaliatory or offensive actions that Yahya Sinwar carries out against Israel will be because Israel itself has made it so.
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