Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar died on Wednesday in Gaza. Who was this man, whom Benjamin Netanyahu had already released, and what 'window of opportunity' can now be opened for a ceasefire in the Middle East?
Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 attack that triggered the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, died this week and this has raised some doubts about the future of the conflict.
Sinwar, who had been wanted since the attack took place, was described by Israeli forces as a "dead man walking", given the army's promises that it "would not stop until he was captured, dead or alive".
That search came to an end on Wednesday in Rafah, Gaza, when the building in which the Palestinian leader of Hamas was attacked.
The attack
According to what the Israeli army explained, cited by CNN International, everything happened when they were carrying out a routine patrol when they began to be attacked from a building.
Israeli troops responded to the attack using a military tank, then deploying a drone that captured what they say were the last moments of the 61-year-old leader.
The video shows the moment in which a man, with his face almost completely covered, appears to look directly at the drone for a few seconds - before throwing a stick in his hand, in an attempt to hit the device. The images also show the destruction on the floor he is on, surrounded by dust and alone.
As Israel explained, it was only when they inspected the building, after the attack, that they realized it was Sinwar, confirming the situation using dental records.
Who was Sinwar?
Sinwar became Hamas' top boss after the assassination of previous leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Iran in July that was blamed on Israel.
Born in 1962 in a refugee camp in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis, Sinwar was an early member of Hamas, formed in 1987, and eventually led the group's security arm.
Israel arrested him in the late 1980s when Sinwar admitted to killing 12 alleged collaborators, a role that earned him the nickname 'The Butcher of Khan Yunis'.
Sinwar was sentenced to four life sentences for crimes that included the deaths of two Israeli soldiers, and while serving his sentences he organized prison strikes to improve working conditions for prisoners.
An independent student of Hebrew and Israeli society, Sinwar survived brain cancer in 2008 after being treated by Israeli doctors. He was a prisoner of Israel, one of the thousand released by Benjamin Netanyahu in 2011.
When Sinwar returned to Gaza, he quickly rose through the ranks of Hamas with a reputation for cruelty. He is believed to have been behind the 2016 assassination of another top Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtewi, in an internal power struggle.
There is widespread evidence that Sinwar, along with Mohammed Deif, the head of the armed wing of Hamas who Israel also claims to have killed, in August, planned the October 7th surprise attack on Israeli territory.
And from now on?
One by one, Israel has attacked several Hamas representatives, and, according to US authorities cited by CNN International, Sinwar's death could even be a rare opportunity to reach a ceasefire agreement.
United States President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even spoke on Thursday, with "both leaders agreeing that there is an opportunity to move forward with the release of the hostages and that they would work together to achieve this objective."
What does Netanyahu say?
The Prime Minister has already said, however, that the "evil has suffered a very hard blow" and that "accounts have been settled". However, the head of government said that "the mission is not yet complete" - all the hostages still need to be brought back.
"The end of the war is coming. For the people of the region, the darkness is receding, the light is coming", promised Netanyahu, reinforcing that an "opportunity" was now opening to have a "positive" future in the region.
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