Several prominent personalities across the world have commented on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, not in some obscure hideout, but in the middle of devastated Gaza. Scholars who have been writing on the Middle East, in particular, have expressed deep concern about Sinwar’s death at the hands of Israeli soldiers, and the impact of the video released by the Netanyahu government that establishes Sinwar as a hero in the world of resistance. And that world has increased dramatically since October 7 2023 assuming the dimensions of a full fledged genocide. It now includes governments other that the US, with Italy being the latest to call for an arms embargo for Israel; it includes students in campuses across the world including America; it includes powerful scholars, commentators, artists, musicians all well recognised for not just their work but their integrity; and it includes the United Nations that has been repeatedly calling for a ceasefire with little to no impact of course.
Sinwar’s last moments have thus created shockwaves, as it has established one, he was on the ‘battlefield’ with his people and not taking refuge in another country; two, he was in the midst of the battle as it were and put up fierce resistance when attacked by the Israeli soldiers with their powerful weapons; and three which is perhaps the most important in terms of impact, he was badly wounded, his entire arm severed, and collapsed on a chair but even so he threw a stick at the Israeli drone taking his pictures. This has created a storm on the social media, with the one action by Sinwar being juxtaposed against images of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu running for the bunker. But it is a manifestation of the Palestinian resistance, a people that have known no peace since 1948, who have lived with bombs and war and killings since they were born, and have in the process developed a courage that the world still has to recognise. And have the capacity to absorb suffering that would fell a normal country within days, being pounded by lethal weaponry day and night for a year. Gaza has been devastated, the children are dead or terrorised with videos from the destroyed land showing them wounded, maimed, and trembling with sheer nerves, and where the people continue to be killed in a genocide that is not hidden but visible to all who care to see.
Netanyahu has made it apparent that he will continue the war. And has dismissed those asking for a ceasefire now that the Hamas chief has been killed. There is no end he made clear in his first statement after Sinwar’s death until the last of the resistance is wiped out. But resistance is never really wiped out, as history has demonstrated over and over again. It has this ability of popping up in the least expected places, and at a time of its own choice. Violence begets violence, and feeds resistance that can only grow in response to such human suffering. Politically Israel has lost its friends, stands isolated, and even if Netanyahu is gaining popularity at home this is certainly not matched by the people of the world who have been asking for him to cease and desist, and restore peace in Gaza. If he stops the war, he will face a reckoning at home and abroad and knows his survival lies in continuing the violence with the help of Biden and his administration. For instance Hamas in itself was being questioned by Palestinians earlier, with known differences with the Palestinian Authority controlling the West Bank. But now the organisation has gained support from all over, including the Arab street even though governments like Saudi Arabia remain compromised to oil interests.
It is a sad day for the world when peace is thrown out of the window for violence that has taken a completely subhuman form, where women are shot by soldiers from the back, and hospitals and schools are destroyed. The genocide in Gaza has cast a shadow over the entire world, with a tense edginess that keeps erupting and shattering the fragile fabric of peace with visions of yet another world war.