One of the more interesting images coming out of Gaza recently was the short video clip released by the IDF last month, showing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar waking through a tunnel underground with his wife Samar Abu Zamar and his three children, just days after the October 7 massacre.
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Samar, 44 is a native of the Strip, who was raised in an affluent Gaza City neighborhood, now destroyed by the IDF. She has a master's degree in foundations of religion from the city's Islamic University, where she taught until her marriage in 2011.
She comes from a pious, well known and respected Palestinian clan know for its support of the "resistance," a local term for the terror organizations acting against Israel. All members of the clan had reportedly joined Hamas while some were members of the Nukhba force which carried out the atrocities against Israelis.
The couple married one month after Sinwar was released from Israeli prison in the prisoner exchange deal negotiated to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit who was held captive by Hamas for five years. She was 31, considered to be an old bride, in a society where the average age for women to marry is 20.
Her husband was 49 but the 18-year age difference was not an issue for Samar who was said to be satisfied with marrying a man who is powerful and holds a sway over the Gaza Strip. Sinwar said in an interview that he was not involved in choosing his bride and that his sister's picked Samar when he was on a pilgrimage to the Muslim holy sites in Saudi Arabia.
The Hamas leader has refused to expose his family in the press and has opted to keep his private life out of the public eye but Hazem Qasim, a Hamas spokesperson said in an interview to the UKs Telegraph newspaper that Sinwar often brings his kids to the office and is openly affectionate with the.
"He plays with them differently than we are with our own children and is very involved," he said. "I suppose it is because he had waited to have kids for many years, while imprisoned. He also believes he is a target of Israel's and may be killed leaving them without a father, so he expresses more love," he said.
It is difficult to find a picture of Samar anywhere, even on the Islamic University website. She is known as devout and wears a Niqab covering her face, leaving only her eyes exposed. Arab media describe her as a patient woman who has complete faith in her husband. In some reports she is said to have "succumbed to his charm," and is full of admiration for him still today, despite him being a brutal and violent man.
His former position in the terror group's intelligence put him in charge with enforcing Muslim religious law and punishing people suspected of homosexuality or infidelity. He was also involved in the murder of Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel. Sinwar admitted to murdering 12 such suspects and was also implicated in the death of three other Palestinians serving sentences in Israeli jails, during his own incarceration, for "betraying the Palestinian cause." None of that deterred Samar or her family.
First published: 13:13, 03.02.24