Many Israelis cheered and danced on the streets at the news that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – chief architect of the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel – had been killed.
But his death at the hands of Israeli forces in Gaza on Wednesday has raised anxieties for families of the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.
Meanwhile, few Palestinians believed Sinwar’s killing would bring an end to the devastating year-old war in Gaza.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 42,500 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says. It followed Hamas’s attack on Israeli communities on 7 October last year, which killed about 1,200 people and saw the group take 251 hostages.
Speaking in the city of Khan Younis
“It’s a war of extermination against the Palestinian people, as we all know and understand,” he said.
Also in Khan Younis was Lina Anuni, who fled Gaza City with her three children a year ago.
“I opposed Sinwar while he was alive and hold him equally responsible, alongside the Israeli occupation, for my suffering and that of 2.3 million Palestinians,” she told the BBC.
Yahya Sinwar 1
Yahya Sinwar, 61, was said to have spent much of his time hiding in tunnels along with a small team of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages seized from Israel.
Speaking in the city of Khan Younis, which has been largely left in ruins by a year of bombardment and fighting, Dr Ramadan Faris said the outcome of the war did not depend on any single person’s fate.
Yahya Sinwar 2
Yahya Sinwar, 61, was said to have spent much of his time hiding in tunnels along with a small team of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages seized from Israel.
Speaking in the city
Speaking in the city of Khan Younis, which has been largely left in ruins by a year of bombardment and fighting, Dr Ramadan Faris said the outcome of the war did not depend on any single person’s fate.
