Hamas ‘absolute leader’ Yahya Sinwar has added a new condition to the terror group’s demands for a hostage release and ceasefire deal: his survival.
“Sinwar insists on guarantees for his safety and life,” including after the war is over,” according to a senior Egyptian official quoted by Ynet.
The Hamas chief was among more than 1,000 terrorists released from prison in Israel on October 18, 2011, in a swap for Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier kidnapped on Jun 25, 2006, by Hamas and allied terrorists. At the time, Sinwar had spent 22 years in prison, serving multiple life sentences for murder.
For months, the Hamas leader has claimed the terrorists “have the Israelis right where we want them” and telling fellow Hamas leaders in Doha that Gaza’s civilian losses “are necessary sacrifices.”
Sinwar once referred to the thousands of Gazans he placed in harm’s way as “necessary sacrifices” in his terrorist group’s war to annihilate the Jewish State. And just a few months ago, he likened the ongoing conflict to a 7th-century battle in Karbala, Iraq in which the Islamic Prophet Muhammad’s grandson was killed.
“We have to move forward on the same path we started, or let it be a new Karbala,” Sinwar wrote in a message to his allies.
That is not to say that Sinwar is personally willing to die for his people, “martyr” or not.
As he draws closer to meeting the 72 virgins promised by Islamic jihadist belief to every “shahid” (martyr) who dies fighting an enemy, Sinwar may indeed be reconsidering his desire for eternal life.
Former Israeli national security adviser Jacob Nagel, who is currently a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), has said he believes Sinwar will do anything to survive, keeping at least some hostages around him as life insurance.
Not every Israeli negotiator agrees with that assessment, however.
Gershon Baskin, who has acted as a negotiator with Hamas for decades and was involved in the talks to free Gilad Shalit, was quoted in January by NBC News as saying he believes Sinwar will go down fighting.
“I believe Sinwar knows he will die a martyr and he’s not afraid of death,” Baskin said. “This is Hamas’s distorted version of Islam. Life on earth is short and paradise is eternal.”
Sinwar’s survival is not the only condition set by Hamas in the talks to release the hostages held since the invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023.
On that day – a Shabbat which coincided with Simchat Torah, one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar, thousands of invading terrorists tortured and slaughtered some 1,200 people while abducting 251 others, dragging them into Gaza.
Hamas also demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Gaza, including from the strategic Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors – a condition supported by Egypt, a nation with which Israel has had a peace treaty for decades.
Egyptian Support for Hamas in Southern Gaza
Israeli military forces have discovered the terrorists built more than 150 tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor that were used to import arms, operatives, drugs, luxury goods and weapons technology into Gaza from Egypt.
Egypt previously promised Israel that its forces had located and destroyed all the tunnels from Gaza.
Cairo is now backing the terrorists’ demand for Israel to remove all presence from the area and again pledges to prevent new tunnel routes from Gaza.
But this time, Israel’s not buying.
Rescuing the Living Hostages
Israeli special forces and Shin Bet intelligence agents rescued a living female IDF corporal in October 2023 during ground operations in Gaza – the first such rescue attempt to succeed. The specific location in which she was being held was not revealed.
In November 2023, 105 more hostages were freed in an initial deal that forced Israel to release three incarcerated terrorist prisoners for each captive freed from Gaza.
4 Live Hostages Rescued from Gaza by Israeli Forces
Four living hostages were also rescued this past June in a joint special operation by IDF soldiers, Shin Bet agents and Israel Police special forces in a complex daytime operation. The four hostages were being held in two separate locations in private homes by so-called “innocent Gaza civilians” in Nuseirat.
Recovering Hostages Who Died in Captivity
In July 2024, the bodies of five hostages were recovered from a tunnel deep beneath the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, Sinwar’s hometown.
The bodies were recovered from an area designated as a humanitarian safe area for Gazans fleeing the combat zones.
‘A Very Complicated Operation’: Soldier Recounts Gaza Rescue
Earlier this month (August 2024) IDF soldiers and Shin Bet agents also recovered the bodies of six male hostages in a special overnight operation in Khan Younis. All six had been abducted alive during the October 7 invasion; four of the six were in their late seventies and early eighties.
At present, 109 hostages remain captive in Gaza, including a one-year-old baby, a five-year-old child, elderly people, and some who are ill. Of the remaining captives, it is estimated that fewer than 70 are still alive.
