Who is Yahya Sinwar? Inside the bloody career of the Hamas leader

A notorious hardliner who spent two decades in Israeli prison, Yahya Sinwar rose through the ranks of Hamas to become its leader and mastermind of the October 7 offensive

The man who spent 20 years in an Israeli prison then rose to the top of the militant group Hamas and masterminded the atrocities of October 7, 2023 has been killed.

Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas hardliner who has headed the militant party in Gaza since 2017, was said to have been killed in the town of Khan Younis on Thursday.

An Israel Defence Force statement said: "After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated." Kan Radio in Israel reported that Sinwar had been killed by chance, and not as the result of a targeted operation.

Hamas has so far refused to comment.

Sinwar's death is the latest in a series of killings that have largely decapitated the leadership of major militant groups in Gaza and Lebanon. Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran in July. Hezbollah's figurehead Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut in late September. An elaborate infiltration operation earlier this year - likely carried out by Israeli intelligence - exploded communications devices belonging to Hezbollah operatives causing disarray.

Since the siege and invasion of Gaza began in October 2023, Sinwar managed to avoid being killed or captured by the IDF despite repeated Israeli claims that offensives into 'humanitarian zones' of Gaza - like Rafah and Khan Younis in the south of the Strip - were to hunt down high-ranking Hamas operatives.

Who is Yahya Sinwar?

Yahya Sinwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, a town in southern Gaza which was then administered by Egypt. His family fled from - what is today - Ashkelon in Israel, during the 1948 War; what the Palestinians call the Nakba, or 'Catastrophe'.

After graduating from the Islamic University in Gaza, Sinwar joined the militant wing of the Palestinian movement and was an early member of Hamas. He led the party's security department and worked to root out collaborators. His role in the killing of 12 collaborators earned him the nickname 'The Butcher of Khan Younis'.

He was arrested for his role in the murders by Israel in 1989 and sentenced to four life terms. During his time in prison, he led hunger strikes and became fluent in Hebrew. He survived brain cancer in 2008, being treated by Israeli doctors.

In 2011 Sinwar was released alongside more than 1000 other Palestinian prisoners as part of a famous exchange for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The prisoner swap was overseen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sinwar rose through the ranks of Hamas on his return to Gaza, acquiring a reputation as a ruthless hardliner - in contrast to the more moderate positions taken by the group's leader Ismail Haniyeh. He is widely believed to be the man who ordered the killing of a fellow Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtewi, in an internal power struggle. It is also believed that Sinwar was the driving force behind forging a closer relationship between Hamas and the Lebanese party Hezbollah, with both groups maintaining close links with the regime in Iran.

A secret vote saw Sinwar succeed Ismail Haniyeh as head of Hamas in 2017, with Haniyeh becoming chief of the party's political bureau and moving to Qatar for diplomatic purposes. Haniyeh was killed in Iran in July 2024, likely by Israeli intelligence agents.

Alongside Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' al-Qassam brigades, Sinwar masterminded the assault on villages, kibbutz, and military outposts around Gaza on October 7. According to the New York Times, Israeli leaders had detailed assessments of Hamas' planning for October 7 months before the offensive began, though no action was taken by Israeli political or military leaders prior to that day. Just under 1,200 people were killed in the areas penetrated by Hamas militants surrounding Gaza; 851 of them civilians.

In May 2024, the International Criminal Court announced it was seeking warrants for the arrest of Sinwar on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC is also seeking warrants on similar charges for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF chief Yoav Gallant.

Gaza's Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas' civilian wing, says around 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the past year, however that toll has remained fixed for several months. An open letter to Western political leaders signed by dozens of doctors who volunteered in Gaza says the death toll is likely to be over 100,000 - 5% of Gaza's pre-war population.