Yahya Sinwar Hamas leader stays out of sight after the Oct 7 attacks (about a year ago). People who talked to him say he doesnt regret the attacks‚ even though they caused a lot of trouble for Palestinians.
The Israeli army said on 10/17/24 they might have killed Sinwar who is 62 years old. He planned the attacks that hurt Israel badly. Sinwar thinks fighting is the only way to make a Palestinian country‚ according to some officials.
The Oct 7 attacks killed many people in Israel. Israel then attacked Gaza‚ killing many Palestinians and making lots of people leave their homes. The fight also spread to Lebanon‚ hurting Hezbollah (an group that Iran supports).
Sinwar uses secret tunnels under Gaza to hide. He moves around a lot and uses trusted people to send messages. No one has seen him in public since the attacks. He was the only one making decisions during talks about swapping prisoners‚ which didnt work out.
Sinwar grew up poor in Gaza refugee camps and spent 22 years in Israeli jail. This made him tough. He joined Hamas when it started in the 1980s. He believes in their ideas about making an Islamic country where Israel is now.
Before the war‚ Sinwar would talk about his life in Gaza. He wrote a book in jail about how hard life was there. He was good at punishing people who helped Israel‚ which made him famous.
Sinwar wants to free all Palestinian prisoners in Israel. He helped swap many prisoners for one Israeli soldier in 2011. He visited Iran in 2012 and made Hamas stronger.
In a speech about two years ago‚ Sinwar said he would send lots of fighters to Israel. He and another leader‚ Mohammed Deif had already planned the attack then. They even practiced it in public.
Sinwar didnt get what he wanted. The idea of a Palestinian country is still far away. Israelʼs leader‚ Netanyahu said no to a plan for Gaza that would make a Palestinian country