Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar - Why the IDF wants him dead

1 year ago
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He was convicted in 1988 of playing a role in the murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians suspected of collaboration with Israel, and spent more than two decades in Israeli prison.
He was released in 2011 as part of the deal that saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier who had been captured and taken to Gaza, where he was held for more than five years. At that time, Sinwar called the exchange “one of the big strategic monuments in the history of our cause.”
His release was helped by the fact that his brother was one of Shalit’s kidnappers and insisted on him being included in the deal. Back in Gaza, Sinwar has risen through the ranks and quickly became a key player within Hamas.
He became known for his brutality and the violence he inflicts on anyone he suspects of betrayal or collaboration. “It is well known that while in [Israeli] prison, he tortured people, mostly members of Hamas, using (a) hot plate to cause them burns… his role in the Majd really tells you a lot about his character, his cruelty. Sinwar has been called many things over the past two months: Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht called Sinwar the “face of evil” and declared him a “dead man walking.”
Israeli media compared him to Osama bin Laden, while a profile published by the IDF nicknamed him “the Butcher from Khan Younis.”
Read more about him on my blog here: http://tinyurl.com/rs9586nv

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