(Daily Caller) The top leader of Hamas wanted to use Palestinian civilian deaths in the ongoing Gaza war to create leverage against Israel, according to messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Yahya Sinwar, believed to be the architect of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel, has become a key player in the ongoing war in Gaza and the terrorist group’s refusal to accept a ceasefire deal. Messages sent by Sinwar throughout the war reveal that he believed Hamas should continue fighting as long as possible, as the civilians left dead in the war were “necessary sacrifices” in fostering criticism against Israel and creating international pressure on the Israeli government to end the war, the WSJ reported on Tuesday.
“We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar told Hamas officials in a recent message, as reviewed by the WSJ.
Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, gestures on stage during a rally in Gaza City on May 24, 2021. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Sinwar has been involved with Hamas for decades, eventually taking command of the group in Gaza in 2017 and threatening to “break the neck” of anyone who stood in the way, including Palestinian coalitions in the region that the terrorist group had seized control from nearly two decades ago, according to the WSJ.
“We make the headlines only with blood,” Sinwar said in an interview in 2018, according to the WSJ. “No blood, no news.”
Israel has been searching for Sinwar since he disappeared after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel, which he helped plan and execute. Part of the reason Sinwar wanted to attack Israel was because he believed it would revitalize the global importance of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Arab and Hamas officials with close knowledge of Sinwar’s beliefs told the WSJ.
Yahia al-Sinwar (2nd-L), Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, stands by as a masked fighter of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades holds up a firearm reportedly belonging to Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin while addressing supporters during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group’s foundation, in Gaza City on December 14, 2022. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)
The chaos of the Oct. 7 attacks apparently caught Sinwar off-guard, as he relayed in a message early in the war that “things went out of control,” according to the WSJ. Sinwar scolded Hamas officials in one December message for having secret talks with Palestinian leaders over a postwar plan, calling their discussions “shameful and outrageous.”
“As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated,” Sinwar said, according to the WSJ. “We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.”
