Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar believes Palestinian deaths are ‘necessary sacrifices’: leaked messages
Hamas’ top official in Gaza, who helped mastermind the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, coldly admitted he sees the deaths of Palestinian civilians as “necessary sacrifices” to keep its war against Israel raging, according to a report citing disturbing leaked messages.
Yahya Sinwar lauded his efforts in stalling cease-fire talks while the Jewish state faces mounting international backlash over the Palestinian death toll, which exceeds 37,000, according to messages from Sinwar obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
“We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar said in a message to Hamas officials meeting with Qatari and Egyptian negotiators.
In the dozens of messages reviewed by the WSJ, Sinwar appears cold and calculating in his decision-making, showing clear disregard for his fellow Palestinians so long as Israel loses more in the war than Hamas.
The Gaza chief even stated as much to Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, after three of the politician’s sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike on April 10.
Sinwar told his leader that the deaths of his sons and other Palestinians in Gaza would only “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor,” according to the WSJ.
The letters from Sinwar to Hamas officials and negotiators also revealed that despite spending the vast majority of his life fighting against Israel, even he was allegedly shocked by the brutal acts his militants committed on Oct. 7.
“Things went out of control,” Sinwar said in one of his messages discussing the kidnapping of women and children.
“People got caught up in this, and that should not have happened,” the terror leader claimed.
The terrorist attack resulted in more than 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of more than 250 people, leading the Jewish state to wage all-out war in Gaza to rescue the hostages and capture Sinwar.
Despite Israel decimating nearly all of Hamas’ battalions and strongholds in Gaza, Sinwar appears determined to make the war last as long as it needs to, with the Gaza chief condemning talks earlier this year from his superiors who were looking to seek an agreement with the Jewish state.
“As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated,” he said. “We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.”
Sinwar’s advice against compromising appeared to strike a chord with Hamas negotiators who have since repeatedly rejected cease-fire agreements that mimicked their earlier demands.
In some of his most recent messages, Sinwar has remained committed to keeping the fighting going so long as Israel loses international support, even if it eventually costs him his life.
“We have to move forward on the same path we started,” Sinwar wrote.
“Or let it be a new Karbala,” he added, referencing the 7th-century battle in Iraq where the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed.
Sinwar, who was arrested by the IDF in 1988 and released in a hostage exchange in 2011, rose to power within Hamas to become its top Gaza official in 2017.
