1 year ago
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The Israeli military calls
Yahya Sinwar
, the hardline leader of Hamas in Gaza, the "the face of evil." And senior officers say he is the top target for the tens of thousands of Israeli troops poised to invade the coastal enclave and destroy its leadership. Long considered a brutal enforcer within Hamas and an implacable enemy of Israel, Sinwar served over two decades in Israeli jails before being released in a 2011 prisoner swap. He emerged as the militant group's leader in Gaza - its top leadership resides abroad - in 2017.
"Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil," Lt. Col.
Richard Hecht
, an Israeli military spokesman, said on Saturday after Hamas assailants killed more than 1,300 Israelis in a brutal incursion that began Oct. 7. "He is the mastermind behind this, like
Bin Laden
was." "That man and his whole team are in our sights," Colonel Hecht added.
Sinwar, who is believed to be 60 or 61, grew up in southern Gaza's main city of
Khan Younis
. He helped set up a precursor to Hamas's military wing called Al Majd - Arabic for "glory" - and helped form Hamas in 1987 amid the outbreak of riots known as the first intifada. His job was running the group's security branch, a role that included policing "morality" and punishing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. In early 1988, Sinwar was arrested by Israeli forces and ultimately sentenced to four life terms in prison for killing two Israeli soldiers.
Six years after his release in 2011, he was chosen to lead Hamas in Gaza and set about consolidating his power. He is believed to have been behind the 2015 detention, torture and killing of a Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, who was accused of embezzlement and "moral crimes" amid suspicions of gay sex.
English (US)