Yahya Sinwar named Hamas Leader: Following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, a new chief for Hamas has been elected. Now Yahya Sinwar, recognized for his brutality, has become the new Hamas leader. On October 7, he masterminded a massacre in Israel leading to the deaths of 1200 Israelis. About 250 people were taken as hostages to Gaza. Consequently, the IDF has been relentlessly searching for him, but he remains elusive.
Yahya Sinwar is known by various names. Some call him 'Hamas's Osama Bin Laden', while others refer to him as the 'Butcher of Khan Yunis'. Israel regards him as the 'Hitler of Terror'. His cruelty extends to torturing and killing Palestinians accused of betrayal to Hamas or loyalty to Israel. He openly displays weapons to children, corrupting their innocence with the poison of terror, and then blames Israel for the atrocities against children. His strength lies in the extensive tunnel networks in Gaza, which conceal many of his secrets.
Yahya Sinwar is also called the 'Butcher of Khan Yunis'. Israeli media compared him to the notorious terrorist Osama Bin Laden after the October 7 attack. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht from the Israeli Defense Forces described him as the 'Face of Evil' and even a 'walking dead man'. Sinwar was born in 1962 in a Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Yunis, South Gaza, which is why he is also known as the 'Butcher of Khan Yunis'. He doesn’t shy away from committing massacres openly.
Source: aajtak
Declared 'Global Terrorist' in 2015
In 1988, Israeli agencies arrested Yahya Sinwar when he was 19 years old. He was tried and sentenced to four life terms. However, he was released in 2011 as part of an Israel-Hamas deal. In 2015, the US Department of State declared him a 'Global Terrorist'. Recently, France froze his assets and added him to their national blacklist. Despite all these sanctions and opposition, his influence remains undiminished.
Yahya Sinwar joined Hamas in the late 1980s and quickly made a name for himself. Soon, he became one of the founders of Hamas's internal intelligence network, known as Majd. He spent over two decades in an Israeli prison for the murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians. Upon release, he became more dangerous, vowing to destroy Israel and orchestrating the October 7 massacre.
Source: aajtak
Seen Fleeing Through Gaza Tunnels
In retaliation for the massacre, the Israeli military launched an extensive operation in Gaza, attacking from land, air, and sea. Hamas's network of tunnels protected Sinwar. In February, the Israeli Defense Forces released a video claiming that Yahya Sinwar escaped through the tunnels with his family. On October 10, he was reportedly seen passing through the Khan Yunis tunnel network with his brother, wife, and children.
The tales of Yahya Sinwar’s cruelty are infamous. Once, he buried a man alive on suspicion of spying for Israel, using a spoon to dig the grave, a task he assigned to the accused's brother. In 2015, he brutally executed a Hamas commander accused of homosexuality and embezzlement. Numerous rumors about his death have circulated, but he has survived each time.
