Jonathan Spyer

How Yahya Sinwar rose and fell

Credit: Getty Images

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is a key milestone for Israel in its ongoing, grinding effort to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza. The details of the killing show the extent to which Hamas no longer has any depth of control over any part of Gaza.

Earlier in the war, Sinwar would have been located deep within several circles of protection. The approach of danger would have been identified by the outer circle, and the leader moved to a new place of hiding. This is evidently no longer possible for Hamas. When troops of the IDF’s 450th Brigade were on a routine sweep in Rafat, they identified suspicious figures entering a building and opened fire on it. The Hamas leader had nowhere to run. Fleeing to an adjacent structure, he was then killed when a tank shell brought the building down on top of him.

It was a notably undramatic end to Sinwar’s career, testimony in its details to the low ebb to which he has brought the movement to which he dedicated his life.

Written by
Jonathan Spyer

Jonathan Spyer is a journalist and Middle East analyst. He is director of research at the Middle East Forum and the author of The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in