He had been on the Israeli radar for decades, with intelligence reports describing him at various points as cruel and violent but with powers of endurance. He was known as the “Butcher of Khan Younis” for his brutal approach to Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
Sinwar convinced Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, that it needed to be purged of informants for Israel. They founded a security arm, then known as Majd, which Sinwar led. Arrested by Israel in the late 1980s, he admitted under interrogation to having killed 12 suspected collaborators. He was eventually sentenced to four life terms for offences that included the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers. During his time in prison, he learned Hebrew and built up a picture of Israeli society.
In 2008, Sinwar survived an aggressive form of brain cancer after treatment at a Tel Aviv hospital. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu released him in 2011 along with about 1,000 other prisoners in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid years previously. Netanyahu was harshly criticised for releasing dozens of prisoners held for involvement in deadly attacks.
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