WRATH OF GOD II: That was the biblical codename for the savagely ruthless operation in which Israel took revenge for the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. But its response to October 7 has been even more wrathful, says DAVID PATRIKARAKOS By David Patrikarakos Published: 21:00 EDT, 18 October 2024 | Updated: 21:00 EDT, 18 October 2024 e-mail View comments The IDF spokesman was clear when we met in Tel Aviv almost two weeks ago. 'Yahya Sinwar is a dead man walking,' Lieutenant Colonel (Reserve) Peter Lerner told me.
There was no anger in his voice, just certainty. It was the one-year anniversary of the October 7 atrocities, which Sinwar planned, oversaw and, by all accounts, revelled in. Lerner did add that Israel would consider negotiating with him for the release of the hostages if he left Gaza for Egypt .
But it couldn't, he added, guarantee how long Sinwar's safety would last. The answer, it turns out, was ten days. On Thursday evening, Israel confirmed that it had killed him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Hamas leader and many more of the group's other 'mass murderers' were found hiding in Rafah, in southern Gaza on the Egyptian border. In truth, it was clear that Sinwar was dead before official confirmation came. Photos of his dust-smothered corpse encased in rubble and surrounded by six IDF soldiers had circulated for hours on social media.
Israeli soldiers look down at the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the rubble of his final refuge in Rafa.
