Palestinians find military pouch of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after his final stand

By Nour Abuaisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinians found belongings of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the resistance group Hamas, who was killed by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah in October.

On Oct. 18, 2024, the Israeli military released a video showing Sinwar in his final moments. In the footage, he is seen sitting in a house in Rafah with an injury to his right hand, wearing a keffiyeh, and holding a stick which he threw at an Israeli drone that was filming him.

The Israeli army said a unit tracked and killed three Hamas fighters in southern Gaza, and DNA tests confirmed that Sinwar was among those killed.

Ashraf Abu Taha, the homeowner where Sinwar sought refuge and fought during his last moments, said he struggled to recover Sinwar's military pouch, parts of his clothes, and an orange-colored chair he had sat on while injured, from the rubble of his destroyed home.

“Sinwar's martyrdom in my home is a source of pride for me,” Abu Taha told Anadolu.

“Sinwar will always be remembered in history as a revolutionary leader,” he added.

Sinwar's pouch still bears traces of his blood, while the chair was found torn beneath the debris.

Abu Taha said that his sons recovered the former Hamas leader’s chair, pouch, and some of his torn clothes with great difficulty.

A ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war that has killed at least 47,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 110,700 others since Oct. 7, 2023.

During the first two days of the ceasefire, Abu Taha described how the ruins of his home became a “shrine,” with many Palestinians visiting the site to view the place where Sinwar fought in his final battle.

Recalling the moment when the video of Sinwar’s death was released, Abu Taha said he had received a call from his daughter in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) informing him that the Hamas leader had been killed inside their house.

At the time, Abu Taha did not believe that the Hamas leader had breathed his last inside his own house.

After Sinwar’s death, the Israeli military leveled Abu Taha's house with an airstrike.

Israel accuses Sinwar of masterminding the Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israeli settlements near the border with Gaza, which triggered Tel Aviv to launch its genocidal war on the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio