Some Palestinians are proud of Sinwar's defiant last stand

Supporters of Hamas are pledging to redouble what they call the “resistance” against Israel, roused by a video claiming to show Yahya Sinwar's final moments.

To hear an emboldened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tell it, killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is the “beginning of the end” of the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, a pivotal step in his long-term goal of destroying the militant group and returning the hostages taken on Oct. 7.

Sinwar’s Palestinian supporters do not see it that way. They were vowing Friday to redouble what they call the “resistance” against Israel, roused by a video claiming to show their leader’s final moments.

The images showed Sinwar not hiding in a tunnel surrounded by hostages — as Israeli officials often claimed he was — but aboveground and hurling a stick at a drone with his last ounce of strength. (NBC News has not independently confirmed it is Sinwar in the drone footage released by the Israeli military.)

Sinwar was not a hero for all Palestinians, some of whom rejected his brutal tactics — including the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack he masterminded — as counterproductive to the goal of peace and Palestinian statehood. But many others are reacting to his killing with a mix of grief and celebratory martyrdom. For them, this was a military commander fighting to the last, willing to sacrifice not only the lives of thousands of Israelis and tens of thousands of Palestinians — but also his own.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sinwar-killed-hamas-gaza-israel-war-rcna176064

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