TEHRAN- The assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has thrown a spotlight on the indomitable spirt of the Palestinian resistance icon and exposed Israel’s vicious lies against him.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that its forces killed Sinwar in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah.

The army acknowledged that his assassination was not a targeted operation and its troops had run across him unknowingly in a battle in the city.  

The Israel army spokesperson said the forces identified three Hamas fighters running from building to building in Rafah. 

Sinwar's death in the combat zone in Gaza refutes Israel's allegations that he was in hiding and utilized civilians and captives as human shields.Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari added that the troops attempted to shoot them before they ran inside a building.

The Israeli army published drone footage depicting what it claimed were the final moments of Sinwar in a room. 

The video shows him alone there with the walls blown out from shelling. With his right arm appearing severely wounded, the video shows the Hamas leader flinging a stick over his head in the direction of the approaching drone. 

Hagari said the Israeli army then fired an additional shell at the building, causing it to collapse and killing Sinwar. He noted that  Sinwar had only been identified as a fighter when the footage was taken. 

Israel later announced that the victim was the Hamas chief. 

Hamas confirmed on Friday that Sinwar was killed in combat with Israeli forces in Gaza, adding that he died defending Palestine until the last moments of his life.

Outright lies 

Israel has always tried to demonize Sinwar in the course of the regime’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago. 

Israeli officials and media have claimed that Sinwar was hiding deep inside Gaza’s tunnel network.  They have also accused him of using Gaza civilians as human shields and surrounding himself by Israeli captives for his protection. 

However, comments made by the Israeli army, indicate that Sinwar was not in the hiding because he lost his life after firefight with the regime’s soldiers. 

Likewise, Israel’s own narrative about Sinwar’s assassination shows he was not among civilians and his death harmed no civilians. 

The Israeli army has also acknowledged that no captives were around Sinwar when he was targeted. 

In fact, Sinwar’s death in the combat zone debunks all falsehoods and allegations propagated against him by the Israeli regime.  
 

Deceit and destruction

Israel has spread fabrications against Hamas, in particular Sinwar to justify its carnage in Gaza. 

The regime has butchered about 42,500 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 16,000 children since the start of its war on the enclave on October 7, 2023. It has also destroyed much of territory. 

Hamas has put up resistance again Israeli forces on the battlefield since the Netanyahu regime assassinated Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on July 31. The onslaught began after Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise military attack in southern Israel. More than 1,100 people were killed in the Hamas operation and about 250 others were taken captive. Hamas freed over 100 captives in a swap deal with Israel in November last year. 

Israel has sought to rationalize its brutal military campaign in Gaza and the high civilian death toll by alleging that Hamas members hide themselves among the civilian population and employ them as human shields.
At least, the assassination of Sinwar has shown that such justifications are in line with Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine. 
 

Abject failure 

Since the beginning of the Gaza onslaught, Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu has vowed to achieve “total victory” over Hamas and “destroy” it. But he has failed to make good on his promise as the resistance movement has become more popular among Palestinians and put up stiff resistance on the battlefield. 

Following Sinwar’s killing, Netanyahu once again vowed to press ahead with the war of genocide in Gaza until defeating Hamas. 

However, his dream of destroying the resistance group has already been rejected by Israeli officials. 

It was on June 19 that Hagari raised doubt about Netanyahu’s war aims. 

“The idea that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas vanish — that is throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” Hagari told Israel’s Channel 13 at that time. He added, “Hamas is an idea, deeply rooted in the hearts of the residents of Gaza.”

Speaking during a closed-door hearing before a Knesset committee in August, war minister Yoav Gallant also dismissed Netanyahu’s “total victory” slogan as “nonsense” and “gibberish”.  

Pipe dreams 
Israel is under the illusion that the assassination of Sinwar will lead to the downfall of Hamas.

Under such false impressions Israel assassinated Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on July 31. But he was soon replaced by Sinwar. Haniyeh’s killing not only failed to deter Hamas from initiating further attacks on Israel, but it also motivated the movement to inflict more significant damage on Israeli forces engaged in ground operations.

Sinwar who is considered as the architect of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm shattered the image of Israel’s invincibility. Israel also assassinated Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last month in a desperate attempt to cripple the Lebanese resistance movement. But Hezbollah has intensified drone and missile strikes against

Israel and killed dozens of Israeli troops since the regime launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon on October 1. 

The killing of Sinwar like the assassinations of other resistance leaders will backfire on Israel. 

But for now, the Netanyahu regime is trying to shift focus from his army’s failures by such heinous crimes.  

Palestinians consider Sinwar as a fighter battling until the very end. They hail his indomitable courage and selflessness.

Sinwar who is believed to be an architect of the Al-Aqsa Storm shattered the image of Israe’s invincibility. 

Western media acknowledged that the Hamas operation had shaken Israel to the core. 

Le Monde wrote in October last year that the Israeli military’s defenses “collapsed like a house of cards” in the face of the Al-Aqsa Storm.

Presently, Sinwar’s death is more dangerous to Israel. His legacy will inspire Palestinians to send the “house of cards” to the dustbin of history.