From studying in prison to leading the October 7 Hamas attack, who was Yahya Sinwar?

Gaza:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Service have jointly confirmed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. There is no official confirmation from Hamas.

Sinwar was born in October 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. He studied at Khan Younis schools before enrolling at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic studies. In 2011, he married a woman from the Gaza Strip with whom he had three children, Xinhua news agency reported.

He was first arrested in 1982 at the age of 20 for his involvement in subversive activities and was subsequently placed in administrative detention for four months. After his release, he was arrested again just a week later and spent six months in prison without trial. In 1985 he was arrested again and sentenced to eight months in prison.

In 1988 he was arrested again and indicted on charges of masterminding the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of four Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. He was sentenced to four life sentences.

During his imprisonment, Sinwar headed the Supreme Leadership Committee of Hamas prisoners in Israeli prisons and helped manage confrontations with prison authorities during a series of hunger strikes. He was moved between several prisons.

He tried to escape from prison twice, but both attempts were unsuccessful.

Sinwar used his time in prison to read and write, learn Hebrew and write several books and translations in the areas of politics, security and literature.

He was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange for an Israeli soldier.

After his release, Sinwar was elected to Hamas's political office in Hamas' internal elections in 2012, where he was responsible for security matters. In 2013, he assumed leadership of Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, coordinating efforts between the political office and the brigades' leadership.

He was elected head of the movement's political office in Gaza in 2017 and was re-elected for a second four-year term in the movement's internal elections in 2021.

Sinwar's home was bombed several times and he is described as a cautious person who rarely speaks publicly.

Sinwar was considered the main architect of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

In August, Hamas announced that Sinwar had been appointed its leader following the assassination of former leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

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