Yahya Sinwar made Hamas his own fief
Will his successor embrace more violence or compromise?
After the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in 2021 Yahya Sinwar appeared sitting in an armchair in the open air, surrounded by rubble and smiling. It became a defining image of defiance for many Hamas supporters. This time the story ended differently. Mr Sinwar died in the ruins of Gaza, like tens of thousands of victims of the war he unleashed a year ago. In a firefight with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza, the leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, was killed on October 16th. His death leaves Hamas shattered and divided.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Hamas’s leader is dead”
Middle East & Africa
October 26th 2024
From the October 26th 2024 edition
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