Who is Yahya Sinwar?

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli military operation, was Israel’s most wanted man.

The chief architect of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, Sinwar was named leader of Hamas following the August assassination of then-leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing.

Sinwar, 61, was born in a refugee camp in the Gaza town in Khan Younis. He was an early member of U.S.-designated terror group Hamas, which was formed in 1987, and eventually led the group's security arm, which sought to purge it of Israeli spies.

Israel arrested him in the late 1980s. He admitted to killing 12 suspected collaborators, a role that earned him the nickname "The Butcher of Khan Younis." Israel sentenced him to four life terms for an array of offenses, including the killing of two Israeli soldiers.

Sinwar survived brain cancer in 2008 after being treated by Israeli doctors and was released from prison in 2011 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sinwar was part of a prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid.

Upon his return to Gaza, Sinwar quickly rose through Hamas' leadership ranks with a reputation for ruthlessness. The U.S. State Department designated him as a “global terrorist” in 2015. He was widely believed to be linked to the 2016 killing of another top Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtewi, in an internal power struggle.

Sinwar headed Hamas operations in Gaza, working with Haniyeh to align the group with Iran and its proxies in the Middle East while also building the group's military capabilities.