Killing Hamas leader garners Israel a tactical, not a strategic success

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Yahya Sinwar’s last moments: Source: Israel Defense Forces

By James M. Dorsey

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For the past year, Israel depicted Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a coward hiding in Gaza’s fortified underground tunnels shielded by 22 handcuffed Israeli hostages.

Drone footage of the Hamas leader’s last minutes released by the Israeli military showed a different Mr. Sinwar.

Dressed in military fatigues, badly wounded, and covered in dust in a ruined above-ground apartment after an exchange of fire with Israeli troops, Mr. Sinwar, seemingly alone, made one last gesture of defiance before he was killed.

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James M. Dorsey
James M. Dorsey

Written by James M. Dorsey

James is an award-winning journalist covering ethnic and religious conflict. He blogs using soccer as a lens on the Middle East and North Africa's fault lines