Gaza man says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in his evacuated home

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Yahya Sinwar, pictured in June 2021, was killed by Israeli forces on October 16

Author, Ali Abbas Ahmadi
Role, BBC News
October 19, 2024

A Palestinian from Gaza told the BBC that the house where former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed was his home for 15 years before he had to flee in May.

Ashraf Abo Taha said he was “shocked” when he identified the partially destroyed building in Israeli drone footage of the incident as his house on Ibn Sena Street in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Sinwar, the key figure in the October 7 attacks on Israel, was killed by Israeli troops on Wednesday.

The Israeli military released drone footage showing Sinwar inside a partially destroyed house before he was killed.

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Video caption, BBC Verify analyzes footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s assassination

Mr. Abo Taha told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Lifeline that he left his home in Rafah for Khan Younis on May 6, when Israel ordered evacuations and launched an operation against Hamas fighters, and that until now he had no news from his house.

Mr Abo Taha said his daughter first showed him the images purportedly capturing Sinwar’s final moments on social media, saying they were of their home in Rafah. He didn’t believe her at first, he said, until his brother confirmed that the house really belonged to him.

“I thought ‘yes, this is my house’ and I saw the photos and I was shocked,” Mr Abo Taha said.

He said he had no idea why Sinwar was there or how he got there.

“Never have I, my brothers and my sons had anything to do with this,” he said.

The BBC has verified that photos and videos provided by Mr Abo Taha of his home match images of the house where Sinwar was killed.

BBC Verify compared and compared the images of the house’s window arches, exterior door decorations, shelves and armchairs from the images.

The BBC cannot independently verify that Mr Abo Taha owned the house.

Image source, Achraf Abo Taha

Image caption, The tiles around the door of the house, according to Mr. Abo Taha, are similar to those of the partially destroyed building where Israeli troops said they killed Yahya Sinwar.

Footage of Sinwar’s murder was analyzed by the BBC, and the house he was last seen in was one of the few partially destroyed buildings in a neighborhood that suffered extensive damage.

The Israeli assault on Rafah in May sparked intense international criticism and triggered the exodus of more than a million Palestinians, according to the UN.

Many were forced to move a second or third time, as they had taken refuge in and around Rafah after being displaced from other areas of Gaza.

Mr. Abo Taha said he built his house in Rafah himself with the help of his brothers and sisters. It had cost some 200,000 shekels (£41,400) and was in good condition when it left, he said.

He described his home’s orange couches and an orange casserole dish, remembering the last time he saw them while fleeing his home.

“These are souvenirs because some of them were brought by my mother and they are very precious to me,” he said.

“What happened saddened me a lot, the house I built and all my payments disappeared,” he said. “Only God can compensate us.”

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