What you need to know about Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed in Gaza

Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, masterminded the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

He rose to the top position in August after the killing of the previous leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an explosion in Iran blamed on Israel. On Thursday, Israel said troops in Gaza had killed Sinwar. A senior Hamas political official confirmed the death on Friday.

Some things you should know about Sinwar:

From refugee camp to Hamas militant

Sinwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in the Gaza city of Khan Younis. He was one of the first members of Hamas, which was founded in 1987. He eventually headed the group’s security wing, which was involved in purging spies for Israel.

Israel arrested him in the late 1980s and he admitted to killing twelve suspected collaborators, a role that earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Khan Younis.” He was sentenced to four life sentences for crimes including the murder of two Israeli soldiers.

A prison leader while imprisoned in Israel

Sinwar organized strikes in the prison to improve working conditions. He also studied Hebrew and Israeli society.

He survived brain cancer in 2008 after being treated by Israeli doctors.

Sinwar was released from prison in 2011 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a trade for an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid.

Ascend to power in Gaza with a reputation for ruthlessness

When Sinwar returned to Gaza, he quickly rose through the Hamas leadership ranks with a reputation for ruthlessness. He was widely believed to be behind the 2016 killing of another top Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtewi, in an internal power struggle.

Sinwar became head of Hamas in Gaza, effectively gaining control of the area, and worked with Haniyeh to align the group with Iran and its allies in the region, while also building up the group’s military capabilities .

The October attack on Israel

Sinwar, along with Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s armed wing, is believed to have plotted the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The attack killed about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and the militants took some 250 people hostage, sparking the war with Hamas. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Hamas said it launched the attack in retaliation for Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and to put the Palestinian cause back on the world agenda.

Israel said it killed Deif in an attack in July.