CAIRO / GAZA: For many in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar’s death in battle — trying to beat back a drone with a stick — was “how heroes die”, while for others it was an example for future generations.

According to video released by Israeli authorities on Thursday, Sinwar was tracked by an Israeli mini drone, which filmed him slumped in a chair covered in dust as he lay dying in the ruins of a building in southern Gaza.

Many western nations said his death may have removed a key hurdle to reaching a ceasefire, but the video of him masked and mortally wounded in a shell-smashed apartment trying to hurl a stick at the drone filming him inspired pride among Palestinians.

“He died wearing a military vest, fighting with a rifle and grenades, and when he was wounded and was bleeding he fought with a stick. This is how heroes die,” said Adel Rajab, 60, a father of two in Gaza.

Despite Tel Aviv’s claims that eliminating Hamas leader was one of its key aims, Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza continues

“I have watched the video 30 times since last night, there is no better way to die,” said Ali, a 30-year-old taxi driver in Gaza.

“I will make this video a daily duty to watch for my sons, and my grandsons in the future,” said the father of two.

Sinwar’s own words in previous speeches, saying he would rather die at Israel’s hands than from a heart attack or car accident, have been repeatedly shared by Palestinians online.

“The best gift the enemy and the occupation can offer me is to assassinate me and that I go as a martyr at their hands,” he had said.

Now some Palestinians are wondering whether Israel will regret allowing the fulfilment of that wish to be broadcast as a potential recruiting tool for an organisation it has sworn to destroy.

“They said he was hiding inside the tunnels. They said he was keeping Israeli prisoners next to him to save his life. Yesterday we saw that he was hunting down Israeli soldiers in Rafah, where the occupation has been operating since May,” said Rasha, a displaced 42-year-old mother of four children.

“This is how leaders go, with a rifle in the hand. I supported Sinwar as a leader and today I am proud of him as a martyr,” she added.

No respite for Palestinians

But the cold-blooded killing of the Hamas chief brought no respite for Palestinians in Gaza, as Israeli air strikes and shelling continued unabated.

Despite repeated vows that eliminating him was a key war aim for Israel, raids continued in the besieged enclave in the hours after Israel announced his death. Tel Aviv has accused Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 raid last year, which sparked Israel’s latest spate of brutal aggression.

Following a strike at dawn, Gaza’s civil defence agency said rescuers recovered the bodies of three Palestinian children from the rubble of their home in the north of the territory.

“We always thought that when this moment arrived the war would end and our lives would return to normal,” Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, told AFP.

“But unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not stopped, and the killings continue unabated.”

As news of the death of Sinwar sunk in, many in Gaza saw little reason for the Israeli army to press on with its war in the territory.

“If Sinwar’s assassination was one of the objectives of this war, well, today they have killed Yahya Sinwar,” said Mustafa Al-Zaeem, a 47-year-old resident from the Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City.

“Enough death, enough hunger, enough siege. Enough thirst and starvation, enough bodies and blood.”

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2024