“In the end or defying all power”: how the world saw the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar

Covered in dust and huddled in a chair in a bombed building in Gaza, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar died shortly after trying to throw a stick at an Israeli drone filming his final moments.

Sinwar, one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza, was killed Wednesday during an operation carried out by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave. Video footage released by the IDF shows Sinwar’s final moments, where he is seen “sitting on a couch, injured” in a Gaza apartment whose walls were destroyed by bombing.

Dozens of people on social media were divided over the final moments of Sinwar, who was hunted by the Israeli army the year the Hamas attack sparked the Gaza war. Some saw Sinwar’s killing as “a completely pathetic end for a terrorist”, while others described it as a moment of defiance in the face of death.

Pro-Israel versus pro-Hamas

“Covered in dust and rubble, without his finger on the trigger and his arm in an iron tourniquet, Sinwar gave the last full measure of devotion. He died for his friends, defying all the might and cowardly power of the terrorist colony to the end by throwing a projectile at the drone marking him for assassination,” one of the pro-Hamas users wrote on .

“…Westerners will cheer him, calling him a terrorist, just like the television told them. But I have a feeling the long arc of the story will tell a different story,” the user added. Another pro-Palestinian user said Israel made the mistake of posting footage of Yahya Sinwar’s final moments. “Wearing a kufiyyeh and seriously injured, he threw a stick at the drone filming him – a final act of defiance against the Zionist occupation. When he died, he became a legend,” he added.

“Let Khamenei be afraid of this”

In contrast, supporters of Israel described Sinwar’s death as “an utterly pathetic end to a disgusting terrorist.” Posting the drone footage of Sinwar, one of the X users said: “Let Putin, Khamenei, Xi and Kim Jong Un see and fear this. Another person said: “He (Hamas leader) started the war with Iranian artillery, he ended the war with a stick.” Invading Israel last October was a fatal mistake. »

Celebrating Sinwar’s killing, another pro-Israel user said: “I hope that in his final moments he inherited every ounce of fear and pain that was inflicted on innocent people in the name of the cause that he led. An evil was destroyed and a hope for peace was born.

A milestone

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening called Sinwar’s killing a significant milestone, but pledged to continue the war, which has expanded in recent weeks from fighting against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza to invasion of southern Lebanon and the bombardment of large areas of the country.

A senior Hamas official said the Palestinian militant group could not be eliminated by the assassination of its leaders, but did not confirm the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar. “Hamas is a liberation movement led by people seeking freedom and dignity, and that cannot be eliminated,” Basem Naim, a senior official in Hamas’ political office, told AFP.

In a statement, he listed several Hamas leaders killed in the past and said their deaths increased the group’s popularity. “It seems that Israel thinks that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people,” Naim said. “Hamas has grown stronger and more popular every time, and these leaders have become an icon for future generations to continue the journey to a free Palestine. »

(With contributions from the agency)