There is no doubt that Yahya Sinwar has good reason to be pleased with the headlines smeared on Israeli news websites and newspapers. That's exactly what he wanted. For a man who is fluent in Hebrew thanks to the many years he spent in an Israeli prison, and who follows every shred of information that comes out of Israel – it is important to hear what is being said about him.
Defense Minister Galant: "We will reach Sinwar and eliminate him" // GPO
He listens and sees what comes up in the Israeli media, addicted to the reports and commentary that come out of here. It helps him read Israel and especially understand how Israel reads it.
Control sick person
The reports that he met with some of the Israeli abductees in a hiding place and supposedly reassured them with the words, "You are safe here," may, in his view, help him twice. Once, to shake off the image of a brutal mass murderer and gain some empathy after their "demonization campaign," and second, to present himself as the person who controls the event and manages it with freezing coolness.
This scene in which he suddenly emerges into a basement and talks to women and children in an authoritative voice looks like it was taken from a scene in a horror movie. For Sanwar, who is looking for this action and enjoying it, it's good for reputation.
Gaza destroyed, photo: AFP
But at the same time, he is not stupid. He realized that the Jews had gone crazy and that this time it was different. This means that it is also preoccupied with survival, not necessarily of Hamas as an organization, but of its own. The fact that he has been hiding since the beginning of the war shows that he is looking to survive, but that too can be reversed, and once he sees an opportunity to go outside to get another picture of victory, he may do so. "As a control-sick person," as evidenced by him on the Palestinian side, he is capable of that, too.
We have already seen that Sanwar is quite a manipulator, and an expert at transmitting confusing messages. He would prefer not to join the ranks of "martyred" Hamas leaders and officials who were assassinated by Israel, but on the other hand he no longer cares if that happens, Palestinian sources say.
As far as he is concerned, he has already secured his place "in Palestinian history" as the person who hurt and humiliated Israel in the worst way it has ever been since the establishment of the state. What remains for him now is to postpone as much as possible the "death penalty" that has already been sentenced to him, and the way there is through blackmail and withdrawal of time during the lull in the fighting.
Although he himself desires a hudna and sees it as a convenient starting point to end the war, he does not give Israel the pleasure that it will go smoothly. If it is also possible to harass, abuse, harass, then why not. As far as he is concerned, it is even desirable. The almost only card left in his hands is the Israeli hostages he holds, so as someone who is on borrowed time, it is no wonder that he continues to allow himself to harass Israel, employing endless tricks and provocations.
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