In a revelation that has sparked intrigue, former Israeli prison commissioner, Orit Adato, has stated that Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar, the current leader of Hamas in Gaza, owes his life to Israeli doctors.
As reported by The Times of Israel, Adato disclosed that Sinwar, while serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The life-saving operation performed by Israeli doctors ensured his survival.
Sinwar, who was imprisoned for his role in the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1988, was the beneficiary of this medical intervention. Adato's revelation came in response to allegations of inhumane conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
She challenged these claims, citing Sinwar's case as evidence of the contrary. "When they say they are not being treated well, I would ask you and others to give a phone call to one specific person, Yahya Sinwar, who is alive nowadays just because of life-saving surgery he was given," Adato stated.
An Israeli military spokesperson identified Sinwar as the orchestrator of the October 7 terror attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 individuals. The spokesperson further emphasized that Sinwar was a prime target in their strategy to dismantle the Hamas leadership.
Avi Issacharoff, an Israeli journalist with expertise in Palestinian affairs, informed Al Jazeera that Sinwar underwent head surgery around 2006 due to severe pain that caused him considerable distress.
Sinwar, now 60, ascended to the leadership of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in 2017, as reported by the European Council on Foreign Relations. His criminal record includes multiple arrests by Israeli law enforcement and a 24-year prison term. Remarkably, Sinwar emerged from prison fluent in Hebrew, following his release in a prisoner exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.
The think tank also identified Sinwar as a crucial link between Hamas' political bureau and its armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesperson, recently labeled Sinwar a "dead man walking," accusing him of a central role in the October 7 attacks that resulted in approximately 1,400 deaths in Israel and the abduction of around 200 hostages into Gaza.
Michael Milshtein, a former intelligence officer in the Israel Defense Forces, told The Wall Street Journal, "I do believe that Deif committed the plan but the real mind, the brain of this attack was mainly Yahya Sinwar."
Security sources outside Gaza, as reported by The Times of Israel, speculate that Sinwar and Mohammed Deif are currently hiding in a network of tunnels in the enclave, constructed to withstand the intense bombing campaign launched by the IDF following the terror attacks on communities and military bases in southern Israel.
Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, Sinwar pursued Arabic studies at the Islamic University of Gaza. According to The Economist, his role in the 1980s was to eliminate Gazans who collaborated with Israel. In 2015, the US Department of State designated him as a terrorist.
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