The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released new footage on Monday showing its former political bureau chief, the late Yahya Sinwar, alongside Palestinian resistance fighters in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The footage, released as part of the “Moons of the Flood” series, shows previously unseen scenes of Sinwar alongside several resistance fighters who were later martyred during battles in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of western Rafah.
The video also documents preparations and ambushes carried out against Israeli occupation forces in the area.
Appearing alongside Sinwar were Anis Ismail al-Darbi, a fighter from the Sultan Battalion of the Rafah Brigade, and the battalion commander Mahmoud Hamdan, both of whom were also martyred.
Sinwar’s Final Battle in Rafah
Sinwar, who had served as the head of Hamas’s political bureau, was martyred after engaging Israeli occupation forces in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah amid the genocide inflicted on the Gaza Strip.
He was born in 1962 in Khan Younis refugee camp to a refugee family originally from Majdal Asqalan. He was educated in schools inside the camp and completed his secondary education at Khan Younis Secondary School for Boys.
Sinwar later enrolled at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Arabic language.
During his university years, he was active in the student council in several fields, including its cultural and sports committees, before eventually becoming president of the Islamic University student council.
From the First Intifada to Hamas Leadership
Sinwar joined Hamas shortly after the movement’s establishment in 1987.
He became involved in confronting collaborators and informants whose activities affected the First Intifada, which had erupted amid mounting Israeli occupation abuses, repression and crimes against Palestinians.
After his release from prison, Sinwar became involved in some of the occupation’s most prominent confrontations.
These included the Great March of Return protests, which continued for a full year between 2018 and 2019. Hundreds of Palestinians were martyred during the largely peaceful demonstrations along the separation fence with the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948.
Sinwar was also a prominent figure during Israel’s 2021 aggression against the Gaza Strip, during which his home was directly targeted in an attempt to assassinate him.
Al-Aqsa Flood and the War on Gaza
The peak of Sinwar’s confrontation with the occupation came with the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
During the operation, Palestinian resistance forces breached Israeli fortifications surrounding Gaza, overwhelmed the Israeli army’s Gaza Division within hours, and attacked major military positions and settlements surrounding the enclave.
It represented the largest Palestinian attack against the Israeli occupation in Palestinian history.
In response, Israel launched what the source describes as a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
During the war, Israel assassinated Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hamas subsequently elected Sinwar as his successor, viewing him as the figure leading the battle from inside the Gaza Strip.
