Yahya Sinwar's wife, her £26,000 Birkin bag and how corrupt Hamas leaders divert Western aid to fund their own obscenely lavish lifestyles By David Patrikarakos Published: 00:17, 24 October 2024 | Updated: 00:17, 24 October 2024 e-mail 1 View comments The image is striking in its incongruity. In the concrete and gloom, amid the detritus of terror and war, the wife of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar makes her way through a tunnel – deep beneath the streets of Gaza – clutching what looks like a Hermes Birkin bag worth £26,000. Nothing encapsulates the corruption of Hamas' s leadership in a single image like Samar Muhammad Abu Zamar's luxury accessory.
Nothing more pointedly illustrates how Gaza's leaders live in splendour while ordinary Gazans moulder in poverty. When the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) eventually raided the subterranean hideout last week, they claimed to have found, alongside weapons and ammunition, 'millions' of Israeli shekels (around one million equates to just over £200,000). When it comes to Hamas, this type of cash – which is to say this type of corruption – is not an exception but the norm.
Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar speaks during a press conference for Quds (Jerusalem) day in Gaza City on 30 May 2019 Footage of his wife seems to show her entering the tunnel to the lair, carrying a Birkin bag, the day before the horrendous tragedy. She is seen appearing to smile at the camera Sinwar himself was 'martyred', to use Hamas's term, .
