Yahya Sinwar Died a Hero, Exposing Israel’s Lies About Him

Yahya Sinwar died a hero, exposing Israel’s lies about him: Mustafa Barghouti, former Palestinian Information Minister & General Secretary, Palestinian National Initiative, to Karan Thapar for The Wire. .......................................... Palestine’s former Minister of Information has said that Yahya Sinwar died a hero and the circumstances of his death have exposed the lies Israel repeatedly spoke about him. Mr. Barghouti said Israel had claimed Sinwar was hiding inside tunnels, dressed as a woman and sheltering behind Israeli hostages. None of that is true. He died in combat, in the open and unafraid. In a 27-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Mustafa Barghouti, who is at present General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, said Sinwar’s death has made him a martyr and the Israeli video of his death has established his heroism in the eyes of the people of Gaza. Speaking about Hamas, the organization Sinwar headed at the time of his death, which has already lost Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, Dr. Barghouti said this has not weakened but strengthened Hamas. Citing Israel’s killing of the first leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004, Dr. Barghouti said organizations like Hamas grow in strength from such deaths. I will stop there. I’m deliberately only giving you a couple of main points. There’s a lot else in this interview which I think you should hear for yourself. To help you I will give you a list of the questions asked so you know the range of subjects raised with Dr. Barghouti. Here they are:- 1) Let’s start with the death of Yahya Sinwar. He wasn’t assassinated but killed accidentally. What do the circumstances of his death tell us about the man? - He wasn’t inside tunnels, dressed as a woman, or hiding behind Israeli hostages but in the open and, presumably, unafraid. 2) Israel has made public a video of his death which shows him defiantly throwing something at the drone doing the filming. How is this video seen by the Palestinian people? 3) It seems there are two views about Yahya Sinwar. The first is that he was a fighter, who spent over 22 years in Israeli jails and died a martyr. This view sees him as a hero. The other view is that his October 7 attack brought forth the wrath of Israel on the people of Gaza, killing over 42,000, injuring nearly 100,000 and devastating the Strip. This view sees him as the cause of Gaza’s plight. How do you view him? How will you remember him? 4) Let’s broaden our discussion. Since October last year over 42,000 people in Gaza have been killed, another 10,000 are missing. Almost a 100,000 are injured, virtually the entire population of 2.3 million is displaced and the Strip has been devastated. Has this affected support for Hamas? 5) Where does Sinwar’s death leave Hamas? The Group has already lost Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif. Now Yahya Sinwar. How damaged is Hamas? How weakened is Hamas? - Will his successor be a moderate or hard-liner? 6) President Biden is hoping that Sinwar’s death can lead to a ceasefire. Netanyahu has said that any militant who releases hostages will not be killed but allowed to live. Do you see Sinwar’s death leading to a ceasefire and the release of hostages? Or is that unlikely? 7) Where does all of this leave the Axis of Resistance? Since July this year both Hamas and Hezbollah have lost their top commanders and hundreds maybe thousands of their fighters. How weakened is the Axis? 8) Before I end let me put to you how the situation looks when seen from Israel. Over the last 3 or 4 months they have killed Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar. They have also killed Hassan Nasrallah, Fuad Shukr and perhaps a dozen top Hezbollah commanders. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are considerably weakened. Israel believes it has the upper hand. Do you agree? Or disagree? 9) My last question: how do you see the next few weeks, perhaps the next month or so? You have ruled out a ceasefire. So do you see the war escalating? Do you see Iran getting involved in a bigger way? Perhaps also the US? Link to the interview with Mustafa Barghouti which was recorded on October 9, 2023 Join The Wire’s Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire’s founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month.