Yahya Sinwar
leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip (born 1962) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yahya Sinwar is a Palestinian politician who is the leader of Hamas in Gaza.[3][4]
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Arabic. Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Yahya Sinwar | |
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يحيى السنوار | |
Hamas Chief in the Gaza Strip[1] | |
Assumed office 13 February 2017 | |
Prime Minister |
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Leader | Ismail Haniyeh |
Preceded by | Ismail Haniyeh |
Personal details | |
Born | (1962-10-29) 29 October 1962 (age 61) Khan Younis, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip |
Political party | Hamas |
Residence | Khan Younis, Khan Younis Governorate, Gaza Strip, State of Palestine[2] |
Education | Islamic University of Gaza |
He was born in a Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza (ruled by Egypt at the time) in 1962 to a family who was forcibly removed from the city of Ashkelon in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[5] He studied at the Islamic University of Gaza and got a degree in studies of the Arabic language.[6]
He got 4 life sentences (18 years each) in 1989 for killing 8 Israelis and their allies by Israel, where he spent 22 years in until the 2011 prison swap where he was released with approximately 1,000 other prisoners for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.[7] He was elected in 2017 as Hamas' leader in Gaza and wanted to seek "peaceful resistance" against Israel. He was re-elected in 2021 and was almost killed by Israel that year.