The other side of ‘Yahya Sinwar’ that you don’t know

Over the course of 10 months, Yahya Sinwar has become the foremost name on the Israeli occupation’s wanted list, with a bounty of $400,000 offered for information leading to his whereabouts.

Table Tennis Enthusiast

Sinwar, the former prisoner who spent nearly 23 years in Israeli jails before emerging as a leader of Palestinian factions planning numerous military operations against the occupier, has another side that many may not know about… What’s the story?

According to former prisoner Nabea Awadah and Sinwar’s fellow inmate at Ashkelon Prison, Sinwar was a calm personality who engaged in sports during his incarceration, particularly excelling at table tennis. Awadah stated in an interview with “Al-Watan” newspaper that Sinwar read extensively while in prison, learning Hebrew from fellow inmates who were proficient in the language. He was known to be active, energetic, and especially courageous in his interactions with guards.

Author Yahya Sinwar

In 2004, Yahya Sinwar’s only literary work, a novel consisting of 30 chapters on Palestinian struggle since 1967, was published. Some consider it a historical account of the Palestinian situation. In the novel’s introduction, he clarified that it was not a personal literary work but rather a compilation of stories and literature woven together to form a single narrative.

Political Translator

Yahya Sinwar spent nearly 23 years in Israeli prisons, during which he learned Hebrew. According to a report by Channel 12, Sinwar was passionate about studying and analyzing Israeli domestic affairs.

This passion was evident in Sinwar’s translation of four books on Israeli politics, as reported by the factions’ website:

1. 1. “Shabak Between the Fragments,” a translation of a book by former Shabak chief Carmi Gillon, detailing the role and operations of Israel’s internal security agency.

1. 1. “Israeli Parties,” published in 1992, a primer on the prominent parties within the occupation and their orientations in the early 1990s.

1. 1. “The Glory,” released before Sinwar’s release from Israeli prisons in 2010, which examines the Shabak’s methods of gathering information, recruitment, and the brutal interrogation techniques employed. He stated that he authored this book to document every available piece of information about the agency’s operations.