While Israel celebrated the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, with international headlines labeling him a "rat in a hole," many in Gaza are hailing him as a hero. Footage of his final moments, where he appears masked, wounded and covered in soot has reinforced the narrative in Gaza that he "fought until the very end."
Hours after the official announcement of his death, a video of Sinwar circulated in Gaza. In the footage, filmed during a 2021 interview, Sinwar said, "The greatest gift the occupation can give me is to murder me." He added, "I would rather die as a martyr than from COVID, a stroke or a car accident. At this age (then 59), I am closer to that promise. I prefer to die a martyr rather than die ‘just because.’"
IDF drone footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's last moments
(Video: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
Footage revealed by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari showed Sinwar in his final moments, sitting alone in a corner of a room, covered in soot. The drone footage that captured him showed Sinwar holding a stick, which he weakly attempted to throw at the drone in an unsuccessful effort to bring it down. He did not return fire and likely realized his death was imminent.
Unlike the meticulously planned assassinations of figures like Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif or Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah over the war, Sinwar's death occurred by chance, following a prolonged search in the area.
"Sinwar was hiding in an area our forces had surrounded for a long time. We didn’t know he was there, but we continued to act decisively. Our forces found Sinwar with a vest, a pistol and 40,000 shekels in cash. He tried to flee, and our forces eliminated him," the IDF said.
Despite his death, Gazan media quickly spread AI-generated images and cartoons portraying Sinwar in a heroic light. One image shows him leaning on the same stick he had thrown at the drone, accompanied by the caption, "Defending the entire world to eradicate Zionist terrorism." Another image, showing him standing with a vest and firing a weapon that was not in his possession at the time, depicts the gunshot wound on his head as only a small cut.
Another cartoon depicted the chair Sinwar sat on in a famous image taken after the 2014 Operation Guardian of the Walls. While Sinwar himself is absent from the cartoon, the gun he held in the original photo remains on the chair, symbolically waiting for his successor, reinforcing the notion that "leaders change, but the idea remains."
Conversely, another cartoon highlighted Iran's loss following Sinwar’s death, depicting him as a puppet whose strings had been cut, signaling that Iran may no longer control Gaza as before.
Additionally, a photo of Sinwar from his release during the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange was recirculated. Gazan photographer Khaled al-Safi, who captured the image at the Rafah crossing, wrote, "That was his reunion with freedom, and today was his reunion with martyrdom. You were blessed with life and became a sacred martyr."
Meanwhile, Hamas senior official Mahmoud Mardawi, perhaps in an effort to maintain the narrative of Sinwar as a "heroic leader," said that selecting a successor "will not take long, it’s a natural process." He also emphasized that "our conditions for cease-fire negotiations will not change after Sinwar’s death," further suggesting that "the idea remains."
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