The second anniversary of the martyrdom of Yahya Sanvar; A leader who became a symbol of resistance

On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar, the former head of the movement's political office, Hamas mentioned him as one of the outstanding symbols of the Palestinian resistance.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan, quoted by the Hamas information base, the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, on the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Yahya Sanwar, the former head of the political office of this movement, mentioned him as one of the outstanding symbols of the Palestinian resistance. A commander whose life began in the camp of Khan Yunis and long years of captivity and finally ended on the front line of the battle in Tal al-Sultan Rafah.

The statement said: Today is the second anniversary of the martyrdom of the symbol of the Palestinian revolution, the former head of the political office of Hamas and the commander of the Al-Aqsa storm operation, Yahya al-Sanwar, nicknamed Abu Ibrahim. Al-Sanuwar was martyred in a revolutionary scene on the way to freedom and marked a new stage of the battle against the criminal invaders. The consequences of this struggle continue to reverberate throughout the region, shaping a new landscape with the blood of its children for the benefit of nations moving towards freedom and independence.

Yahya Sanwar, known as "Abu Brahim", was born on October 19, 1962 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp. His family was displaced from al-Majdal city during the Nakbat of 1948, and life in the camp influenced his political and national outlook from the very first years.

Sanwar continued his education in Khan Younis schools and then studied Arabic language at the Islamic University of Gaza. He entered into student activities in the university environment, took over the presidency of the student council and worked within the framework of the Islamic movement of the university.

Sanwar was arrested for the first time in 1982 and was captured again in 1988. The Zionist court sentenced him to life imprisonment four times and he spent a total of 23 consecutive years in prison.

During the captivity, he became one of the main figures of the Hamas prisoners and assumed the presidency of the high leadership board of the prisoners of this movement. Sanwar was also involved in hunger strikes in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004.

He learned Hebrew in prison and translated works from Hebrew. Sanwar also wrote works in the field of politics, security issues and literature, including the novel "Thorn and Clove"; A work that narrates part of the Palestinian experience after the 1967 war.

From the formation of "Al-Majd" to the rise to the leadership of Hamas

Before his long captivity, Sanwar played a role in the formation of the first security structures of Hamas and in 1986 he participated in the establishment of the "Al-Majd" organization; An organization that later became one of the foundations of the security structure of this movement.

He was released from prison in 2011 as part of the "Wafaa al-Ahrar" prisoner exchange agreement, and after his release, he assumed various political, security and military responsibilities in the Hamas structure.

In 2017, Sanwar was elected as the head of the political office of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During this period, in addition to internal cases in Gaza, he was also present in negotiations and efforts related to the end of internal conflicts in Palestine.

During his leadership period, the marches of return began in 2018, and at the same time, several rounds of military conflict between the Palestinian resistance and the Zionist regime took place, the most important of which was the battle of "Sword of Jerusalem" in 2021.

The release of Palestinian prisoners was also one of Sanwar's most important priorities; After more than two decades of captivity, he had repeatedly emphasized its national and moral importance.

With the start of Al-Aqsa storm operation on October 7, 2023, the name of Sanwar came up as one of the main figures in the design and direction of this operation. Hamas has described this operation as a decisive point in the history of confrontation with the Zionist regime and considers Senwar as one of the commanders who played a key role in the formation of this stage.

After the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024, Sanwar was elected as the head of the political bureau of Hamas and rose from the leadership of this movement in Gaza to its highest political position.

His election at that time was described by Hamas as a message supporting the continuation of the resistance and emphasizing the link between the political leadership and the battlefield.

Yahya Sanwar was martyred on October 16, 2024 in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The pictures published by the Zionist army of the last moments of his life quickly became one of the symbolic pictures of the war. In these images, a wounded and face-faced Sinwar wearing a Palestinian helmet was seen in a destroyed building, throwing a piece of wood at the Israeli drone at the last moment.

Contrary to the previous propaganda of the Zionist regime, which claimed that Hamas leaders are present in tunnels and far from the battlefield, these images showed that Sanwar was present in the conflict zone and with the fighters.

The Hamas movement described this scene as a symbol of "resistance to the last breath" and emphasized that his martyrdom is not the end of a path, but the continuation of the same pattern that was seen earlier in the lives of commanders such as Ezzeddin Qassam and Abdul Qadir Al Husseini.

In the Palestinian narrative, Sinwar is best known for three stages of his life: camp, captivity, and battlefield. He came from a displaced family in Khan Yunis, spent more than two decades in the prisons of the Zionist regime, rose to the top of the leadership of Hamas, and was finally martyred on the battlefield in one of the most difficult periods of the Gaza war.

Two years after the martyrdom of Yahya Sanwar, the image of his last battle is still present in the memory of Palestinians. The image that for resistance supporters is a symbol of the commander who started his journey from the camp, went through the prison, led the storm of al-Aqsa and finally ended up on the front line of the battle in Rafah.