Welcome to Gaza's Martyr Factory: How Israel Turned Sinwar Into a Legend

Sinwar’s final moments were on display in a video released by Israel that apparently showed the Hamas chief critically injured, throwing an object at a surveillance drone shortly before his death.

When Gazans saw the footage, many changed their minds, Muhammed said.

“It showed he was fighting until the very end,” he said..

This upswell of support for Sinwar in the Middle East, apparent across social media and in some street demonstrations, has little to do with last year’s attack on Israel, which left dead around 1,200 people and triggered a devastating Israeli response. Rather it reflects the symbolism of his decision to stay in Gaza for the war instead of orchestrating it from Qatar, where Hamas’s political leadership resides, or fleeing to neighboring Egypt, said Nasser Alkidwa, a former Palestinian foreign minister.

“It makes a difference to people in the Arab world that he was above ground, that he didn’t escape, and that he was fighting,” Alkidwa said. “How and where he died also refutes the Israeli narrative of Sinwar abandoning the people of Gaza. And many people feel Israel can’t pretend this is a big achievement because his killing wasn’t planned or done through using intelligence.”

A senior Arab official involved in cease-fire negotiations said they were surprised Israel released the footage, as it could contribute to a continuing defiance among the Palestinian public as well as militants in Gaza. Baskin, the former Israeli negotiator, said Israel didn’t seem…   to account for how the release of the drone footage could invigorate not only the Palestinian public but much of the region.

Sinwar’s actions as one of Hamas’s top operatives, and especially last year’s attack on Israel, divided opinion across the Palestinian territories and wider region. Designated as a terrorist by the U.S., he had been convicted of multiple murders in Israel, including the killing of Palestinians he considered to be collaborators, and was serving a prison sentence there before he was released in a prisoner exchange.

Only 29% of Palestinians in Gaza were satisfied with Sinwar, according to September polling from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

But the way he died has prompted a reappraisal among many Palestinians and Arabs, and it is putting some governments in a bind as they measure their own responses to his death.