Yahya Sinwar, the military leader for Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists, has indicated to the group’s leaders in Qatar that civilian casualties in the war against Israel in the Gaza Strip “are necessary sacrifices,” The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The Journal reported it reviewed dozens of messages Sinwar transmitted to cease-fire negotiators, Hamas compatriots outside Gaza, and others that showed a cold disregard for human life and made clear he believes Israel has more to lose from the war than Hamas. The messages were shared by multiple people with differing views of Sinwar.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reportedly said 274 people were killed Saturday in an Israeli raid that rescued four hostages kept in captivity in homes in a civilian area, an example to many Palestinians about their role as pawns for Hamas.
Sinwar, 61, is just the latest Palestinian leader to embrace bloodshed as a means of pressuring Israel to capitulate, but the scale in this war is unprecedented.
Palestinian officials say more than 37,000 have been killed, although there is no distinction between combatants and civilians, since the war started, following Hamas’ terrorist attack Oct. 7 in southern Israel.
In one message to Hamas leaders in Qatar, Sinwar cited civilian losses in liberation conflicts such as in Algeria, where hundreds of thousands died in the 1950s and early 1960s fighting for independence from France, saying, “These are necessary sacrifices,” the Journal reported.
In an April 11 letter to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh after three of Haniyeh’s adult sons were killed by an Israeli airstrike, the Journal reported Sinwar wrote their deaths and those of other Palestinians would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”
Sinwar’s ultimate goal appears to be a permanent cease-fire that allows Hamas to declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel and for him to claim leadership of the Palestinian national cause, the Journal reported.
President Joe Biden is trying to force Israel and Hamas into a cease-fire, but Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed because of his stated goal of destroying Hamas and rescuing the remaining hostages. Even without a lasting truce, Sinwar believes Netanyahu has few options other than occupying Gaza and fighting a Hamas-led insurgency for months or years, the Journal reported.
Sinwar’s messages, meanwhile, indicate he’s willing to die in the fighting, the Journal reported. In a recent message to allies, he likened the war to a 7th-century battle in Karbala, Iraq, where a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was slain.
“We have to move forward on the same path we started,” Sinwar wrote. “Or let it be a new Karbala.”
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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